Mother Knows Best
by Sunny Shell
Summary: Hinata was by no means the heir her family had expected, but what she didn't have as a Hyuuga, she made up as an Uchiha in spades. In which her mother does not allow her to sulk in misery and forces her to find solace in the cold steel of kunai and the warm flames of the candles that light the halls of the Hyuuga Compound
1. Prologue

**Edited 01/01/2020**

Her clansmen always said that Konohagakure is a strong village filled with powerful shinobi so the war between them and Kumogakure shouldn't wage on for too long and Hinata didn't doubt it. If her mother believes it to be true then it surely must be so. _Hahaue is never wrong._

Even so, the Hyuuga Clan worried for the safety of their young heiress so her caretaker, Ko was instructed to begin a gentle exercise routine in order to give her a head start and to make sure there were no complications with her chakra pool (or lack of) in the future. The more she trained, the more chakra she would have access to in the future and the faster she would be able to activate her Byakugan.

Hinata's father was pleased with her progress but the elders were not. They believed she was lacking in other areas, such as etiquette, causing the matriarch to blow a fuse. She did not appreciate them meddling with her daughter's progress, the girl was barely three years old.

Despite this, the Hyuuga Matriarch acknowledged the disappointment even she felt to a certain extent when she found out her firstborn was a girl. It was common knowledge, even for the young heiress that the council was still bitter over the fact that it would likely be a female who would inherit the leadership of the clan. The subject caused a bit of a division between the older and younger generations of the clan who had different views when it came to kunoichis (and women in general).

Between the Main House and the Branch House, Hinata preferred to spend her time among the younger members Main House who never spoke ill of her and usually let her watch their training sessions. Despite this, unlike the rest of her kin, she didn't see the members of the Branch House a lesser. Just more mean. Of course, she also noticed the exceptions to her observations such as her cousin, Neji who would smile and wave at her when they crossed paths and Natsu, the chuunin who always brought back foreign sweets for her. Lady Hyuuga was also an exception (kind of) since she originally belonged to another clan, but she was Hinata's favorite.

She was a very kind and beautiful woman, the type who would nurture an injured bird or spend leisure time in a garden, tending to various herbs. If it weren't for her equally great arrogance, she would be considered worthy of marrying into royalty.

The matriarch often reminded her daughter to not go anywhere near her garden if she wasn't around. Hinata didn't know why those plants were off limits, but always complied with the demands of her eccentric mother.

As the young heiress approached the garden she took a moment to observe the woman's profile as she tended to the herbs. Unlike the rest of the people in the compound, her mother possessed long dark bluish tresses that easily got wild if not properly maintained and pretty obsidian eyes that Hinata swore turned red every now and then. She wished to have those dark eyes herself after one of the civilian kids compared her own to the blank stare of a dead fish.

"Have you finished your exercises?" Her mother asked curling her index finger towards herself a few times. Hinata got the message and rushed over with a bright smile. She always enjoyed spending time with her in the garden because they always talked about the various plants of Hi no Kuni and surrounding lands.

"Of course! Um, you—you said I could help you...with the plants, I mean. " The woman almost imperceptibly curled her lips down as the young heiress pressed her index fingers together.

"I could use a hand, but please don't make it a habit to speak that way. I'll get you a pair of gloves," with that said the woman stood up and dusted off her simple yukata before heading off.

The girl only bit her lower lip as she started to walk around the lone garden, eyes darting around for bright colors. It served as a good distraction from her mother's words. She was starting to notice the beginnings of a stutter that is unacceptable in any shinobi clan and Hinata couldn't find it in herself to be bothered by her attempts to eliminate it before it grew any more prominent. She was only trying to help.

That flower looks pretty! As she reached out to touch it, the crunch of a broken twig snapped the half a twig in each hand. "It's important to remain vigilant to any alterations in your environment."

Hinata tilted her face with a pout. So much for having a good vocabulary for her young age, she thought with dismay.

"That means you should pay attention to everything around you, Chibi. Once you become a genin it will become a situation of life or death."

Not quite understanding the seriousness of the topic, she nodded her head, "yes, Hahaue."

As if a switch was flipped, the woman suddenly brightened up and pulled a pair of gloves hanging from her obi and passed them to her daughter who eagerly slipped them on her still chubby hands.

"I knew those would fit perfectly! Now if you could start pulling the weeds from this bed and then water the plants…"

—

As the sun was slowly hiding behind the surrounding trees giving Hinata was happily clinging to her mother's sleeve as they made their way back in the compound and to the woman's room. During the silent walk the girl noted the air was becoming increasingly cold as the moon had replaced the setting sun.

Thinking back to earlier in the day, everything seemed perfect to Hinata. She would be happy to continue working in the small section of the not very humble gardens of the Hyuuga Compound for the rest of her life if the council and her father allowed it but she figured they would be against it ("Hyuugas are shinobi not gardeners!"-pretty mucheveryone in Konohagakure).

Now that she thought about it, to be a shinobi would mean going to the Academy. Would she find mean kids there? Hinata sure hoped not. Maybe she should try to activate her Byakugan before going there. Just to be safe.

"When will I go to the Academy?"

"Well, most kids start attending the Academy when they are around five," Hinata sighed in relief, she wouldn't be going there anytime soon , "but you will be joining a bit later. You've no need of the Academy until they are past the basics."

She tugged her mother's sleeve and spoke in a rushed whisper. "But what if I need the basics?"

The matriarch scoffed and looked down at Hinata. "You won't. I will be teaching you everything you need to know."

"Ah, well...I think that's great! You're gonna teach me here in the compound, right?"

"Not me." She hesitated. "You will be instructed on taijutsu here, but I will be taking out for our training."

"Will I be allowed to?"

"Of course! Gentle Fist aside, I want you to learn fire techniques without burning down the compound." As an afterthought, she added nonchalantly, "not everyone here deserves to burn."

Hinata was aware of her mother's disdain towards the Elders and couldn't help but agree. No matter how politely she addressed them, they seemed to thrive in her tears and her mother's anger. Once she became the head of the clan, she would definitely kick them out if they weren't dead by then.

"Say, Hinata?"

"Y-yes?"

"Let's have a sleepover. I promise to bring any dessert you want!"

"Really?"

The woman hummed and and brought a finger to her chin. "Yup and If you manage to impress me with what you have learned I'll let you have a real kunai. Sound good?"

"Uh huh! Will you teach me how to use it too?"

The matriarch snickered and patted Hinata's head. "Oh yes and if we're lucky we might accidentally hit one of the elders. Pure coincidence I can assure you."


	2. Chapter 1

**Edited 01/01/2020**

Hinata was excited when she first received it in the morning, no one else had ever allowed her to touch-let alone own a real kunai! Ko was just too protective of his charge and the rest of the clan wanted to avoid being held accountable for any accidents related to the toddler heiress. Hyuuga-sama on the other hand, not so much.

"-Hinata-sama!" the girl mentioned immediately straightened. "If you are going to drone off during our lessons, you might as well become one of those clanless shinobi!" Soleil Hyuuga exclaimed in exasperation. It was the third time it happened that week starting on monday. It was currently tuesday.

"I-I'm sorry, it won't happen again."

The elder sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. "Have you been getting enough sleep? Your father and the Uchiha woman have been overworking you lately...perhaps a break would be best."

A break? Hinata shook her head. "I can't sleep. We ran out of-of tea." she had wanted to ask where it went but held her tongue instead. If she stuttered again, her tutor, Soleil might start lecturing her on how a proper Hyuuga should talk and behave-especially one of her rank.

"Ah, now that you mention it, many of our clansmen have said the same. Konoha must still be working on the blockade."

Hinata perked up at that, it has been a popular topic lately. "And um, what is that? Is it bad?"

"A blockade is just what we call an area of combat that stops the flow of commerce," Hinata nodded, "but I don't think it will be a problem much longer, the Hokage has sent a squad of jounin Hyuugas and Uchihas but it won't change the fact that we have suffered heavy casualties."

"But Kumo's shinobi are dead too?"

"That's right, both sides have lost many people but we have the advantage. Kumogakure has nothing on our Dojutsu clans."

That made sense. Her mother always praised Doujutsu as a powerful Kekkei Genkai.

"I see no reason fo-for Konohagakure to fail in that case."

If her mother believed the war would end soon and that every shinobi at the frontlines would be pulled back then that must be the case because she is never wrong.

* * *

The Hyuuga matriarch beamed as she handed Hinata two blades as if they were some sort of amazing artifact.

"Taijutsu will not be your thing. You're tiny, even for a girl," her mother's soft voice pulled her out of her thrilled reverie. "So I believe that you will make a good shurikenjutsu master like your cousin."

Hinata tilted her head. "Are you really sure that Chichiue won't be mad?" she didn't want that. While she hasn't spent much time with him, she knows he is not someone anyone would want to anger. Just ask the Branch Cadets, last time she asked they went on an all-out rant.

Her mother hummed in amusement, "what Hiashi doesn't know won't hurt him. Besides, this should make Fugaku shut up about Itachi for once…" the matriarch then began muttering something about having the better child as Hinata slowly inched away from her.

Sometimes the woman scared her with those incoherent ramblings.

"Well, um, if Hahaue believes it to be best, then I will learn shurikenjutsu."

The older woman smiled in excitement and nodded. "Good, let's go then! I already set up some targets for you," Hinata felt her face heating up despite the cool weather, "but I don't expect you to make a decent shot yet. I'm just showing you the basic forms for now."

The woman took her down a dirt trail leading to the forest, she prefered liked training among the thick canopy, she says it's important for shinobi to be comfortable with their homeland's terrain if they ever hoped to be successful shinobi, even the elders agreed with that.

"Shou-shouldn't we start with um, a wooden kunai if I am to throw it?" the heiress asked as she grabbed on to her mother's yukata. It helped her ease the feeling of being watched, hiding behind a renowned kunoichi of a previous generation.

"You will attend the Academy sooner or later and I don't want you to pick up bad habits with a wooden kunai, they're very different from a real one which could get you killed if you don't adjust." Hinata nodded at this, if her mother said so, then it must be true.

When Hinata snapped out of her nervous trance she looked around and realized that they were already in the clearing. Lady Hyuuga held a pair of kunais in front of her.

Her mother gave her an expectant look and with that, she knew there was no way out of training. Taking a deep breath, Hinata took the kunais and walked more confidently than she felt to the center of the clearing.

"You know the basic form of taijutsu, right?"

"Oh! Kinda, I saw Ko showing the other kids."

"Show me, it can't be too bad."

Hinata remembered the older kids had a wide stance and one palm close to their chest and the other held out in front of them. Which hand was closer, left or right? She took a guess and hoped for the best.

The woman dipped her head in approval and walked around her daughter. "The stance shouldn't be quite as wide and for shurikenjutsu in particular, your hands must be closer to your body. Oh, and you must hold these in reverse, Chibi," she corrected gently, fixing the positions of the weapons in Hinata's hands, "that way you won't hurt yourself and you'll be able to deflect other projectiles while protecting yourself."

"Like this?"

"Perfect. Now move them around, try to get a feel for it because one day, they will become your best friends."

Perhaps it was her imagination, but at this point Hinata could certainly feel many gazes on her. It could be the gossip brigade so she didn't let it bother her. They were mostly inoffensive.

The woman smirked at the direction of compound and raised her hand in a victory sign for all nosy Hyuugas watching with the aid of their dojutsu. "That's better. Oh, I can't wait to present you to Mikoto, she's gonna love you!"

* * *

"I heard that the Hokage asked Hiashi-sama to send a squad of Main House shinobi to the frontlines at dawn."

"I heard that they are being accompanied by Uchiha elites."

"Oh yeah, I haven't seen Hajime or Inabi at all today. Those little...they still owe me money."

"Inuzuka-san said that Kumo blocked another major trade route last night. They needed more people at the frontlines and fast."

"No kidding."

Contrary to popular belief, the Hyuuga Clan loved gossip. It amazed all outsiders how they could exchange stories about each other with a straight face and simultaneously be considered more prestigious and sophisticated than the Uchiha Clan and the other noble clans (despite their amazing shinobi, their political influence did not extend as far the Hyuuga's did).

As the heiress walked by the three Main House shinobi, they moved out of the way and bowed not quite as low as her position demanded and spoke a quiet greeting. Giving them a small smile the girl continued on to her father's office with a slight bounce to her steps. She didn't get to see the patriarch of the Hyuuga Clan very often so she must give him a good impression since this would be the first time he summoned her.

After that she would head to the dojo where Ko and her mother would supervise her training (just running a bit and hitting a post to develop calluses) so she promised herself to give her very best effort during training and maybe-just maybe her mother would sneak her outside of the compound for a bit.

Feeling smaller by the second, Hinata took a deep breath and announced herself before entering the imposing office and taking a seat, but seeing two elders behind the leader which only served to make freeze for a moment.

Hiashi dipped his head in acknowledgement and the young girl couldn't help but let her eyes shine with glee despite the fear, for he usually ignored her. "Hinata, are you aware of what will happen this month?" he questioned in a lighter voice than usual.

"I-I will turn three and be announced as the heiress," the elders behind Hiashi nodded, prompting Hinata to continue. "I will start learning of our f-fighting style, Juken." Another nod, "And the new Branch Cadets will be se-sealed." she finished quietly, not knowing what to think of the cursed seal nicknamed the Caged Bird Seal by some creative and probably pissed off Branch Cadet way before any elder in front of her was born.

"That's right, Hinata-sama. Ideally, you wouldn't have started any physical training until after you turned three but it has been brought to our attention that Konohagakure is not faring too well right now. You must start learning how to defend yourself," the only female elder spoke up, distaste lacing her honeyed voice. Hinata remembered her as Chikage Hyuuga, a scheming and deceitful hag who, according to Mother, must not be trusted for any reason so it would be best to keep her at a distance.

"You have been training for a while now," the former head of the Hyuuga Clan stepped forward and rested a hand on her shoulder. She flinched at the coldness of his hand."Once you turn three you will start learning more about our eyes and combat style. You will be groomed as the heir of this great clan. "

Hinata's fingers twitched again and then bunched the edges of her yukata. She wanted to run and hide behind her mother's favorite yukata, the one with a proud white and red fan on the back that seemed to anger the council but, unfortunately for Hinata, formalities have been ingrained in her every action since birth, keeping her from fidgeting too much. "It-it's an honor," she bowed, "I will do my best to not disappoint you."

"You must be aware that we expect nothing but the best from you."

"I know."

"One day you will lead this clan, it is very important to…"

After a while of nodding when she believed appropriate and listening to the history of the Hyuuga Clan (again), Hinata started to play with the sleeves of her yukata until she heard nothing but silence. Did she do something wrong? This time she hadn't droned off.

She lowered her gaze to the wooden floor and waited to be dismissed after the uncomfortable silence. "Chin up, Hinata. You may leave."

"Yes, Chichiue!" with another bow she all but scurried away from the general area of the office and the elders with a relieved smile. Those people are scary!


	3. Chapter 2

**01/01/2020**

Hinata stared at the ceiling and heaved another sigh. Despite being exhausted after a day of studies and training she couldn't stop tossing and turning as she tried to find sleep. She could ask a Branch Cadet to find her some type of sleeping aid but then Hinata glanced at her window to see the shining moon, I shouldn't disturb them...They already work so hard while I do nothing.

Then there's her mother...She would probably be happy to remain awake with her and even play around the compound as they had done so a few times earlier in the week. But what if she made her mother mad this time by waking her up?

Nope. Not gonna happen.

The matriarch has never been a fan of early mornings despite claiming that good shinobi woke up with the sun to train. In fact, most of the Hyuuga Clan (even inactive shinobi) woke up early enough to have one full hour dedicated to tending their beautiful hair before going out on missions or training. Even her father and grandfather seemed to partake in the family routine (just look at their beautiful hair) so she never questioned the strange custom.

Strangely enough, Hinata's father did not allow her to grow out her hair like everyone else. Ko once stated that it was probably an attempt to make her seem masculine and then profusely apologized for his lack of consideration. Not that the heiress minded, Ko was always nice and honest with her—he even defended her from the Elders when he believed they crossed a line.

Thinking about the elders only served to make her cry or at the very least feel worse than usual, not aid her sleep so the girl began looking for shapes in the dark to distract herself. Perhaps she should do something useful such as training while everyone- or at least most rested.

The girl pulled off the cover and trudged over to her training attire which consisted of a loose one piece training suit with a thin ribbon-like obi around her waist. Practical but very annoying to put on and off. She pouted and instead of putting on the training attire, she threw herself on the futon when she remembered her lack of options. No one would allow her to up and train during these ungodly hours.

So much for holding a high position in the clan…

It was still dark and she didn't know how to activate her Byakugan so the heiress decided against going anywhere near the forest, her mother would flip if she went alone. If she went anywhere near the dojo or training areas that belonged to the Branch Cadets, her father and the elders would flip. If she used the Main House training grounds, the guards would flip.

 _Maybe Hahaue won't mind if I come over?_

Hinata pushed herself off the futon with the grace of a sloth and scurried across the compound, doing her best to do so as quietly as possible. Just because some people were mean to her didn't give her the right to rudely wake them in return. Her mother raised her better than that.

The Hyuuga Compound was a very large place, it would have been easy for a child her age to get lost but she had lived behind those walls her entire life so naturally, she'd know her way around. That, and the many flames that barely lit the hallways she passed.

Now that no one was around, the young heiress was finally able to appreciate the traditional beauty of the compound, especially that of her favorite painting. It was the sun setting (or rising) and casting its light upon a small village that seemed to be some sort of trading port.

Sometimes she liked to imagine herself and her mother being civilians and living a quiet life in some remote valley, they would grow all they need in a really cool garden with all types of plants.

She is then reminded that she wants to see the world so instead, she and her mother could be merchants, traveling here and there, visiting so many places such as the ocean or even the highest peak of Tetsu no Kuni(1).

Unfortunately, two year old Hinata Hyuuga is perfectly aware that her dreams are nothing but illusions that will eventually hurt her so she unglued her eyes from the painting and continued on to her destination without drawing attention to herself.

When she reached the looming screen, the heiress considered bolting right back and forgetting bothering her mother. Or perhaps she's just exaggerating, her mother had never behaved in an unwelcoming manner.

Would she be mad if Hinata woke her up?

Maybe bothering her was a bad idea, so who could she bother at this outrageous hour?

Ko? He deserves to rest.

Father? Ha. He would send me back.

Soliel-sensei? She'd curse me for days.

The guards? They would return me to my room and probably make me stay there it till dawn.

At that moment Hinata felt small-and not because she already was, but because she realized the amount of people she could count on were close to none. She groaned and sat beside the shoji screen with her knees pulled to her chest, if she couldn't sleep then she would wait for her mother to wake up. Then they could play.

Tsubaki Uchiha was not your stereotypical mother who would protect and coddle her children, making sure they didn't get hurt or anything of the sort—that was so...so civilian! Instead, she would make sure that her daughter knew how to stand up to tradition and how to be an independent woman because she won't always have the backing of a powerful clan.

Sure, the kid was only nearly three years old but Tsubaki knew she could take it. While Hinata was not born with a promising chakra pool, she was a good deal brighter than most children her age though her 'I don't wanna harm anyone' policy was quite the nuisance. But that's okay. it could be fixed.

To many of the old bastards in the Hyuuga Council, it seemed as if she were trying to weaponize her own daughter and they weren't wrong per se, they simply did not understand that she wanted to help Hinata prove herself. Tsubaki had seen the way the Branch Cadets boasted of their local genius, Neji Hyuuga and it did not sit well with her. She would not let the boy or anyone else outshine the rightful heiress of the clan.

Memory was not a problem, Hinata had been able to remember and perform—albeit clumsily—what was supposed to be an advanced beginner set of katas after watching the older kids practicing it only once. Perhaps it was a sign that the Sharingan was not lost on her. She even had a good idea of how the chakra system was arranged (at least on a one-dimensional poster).

Maybe the Hyuuga Clan saw her daughter as not good enough due to her gender but the girl's above average memory alluded to the traces of a great Uchiha—because let's be honest, eyes aside, she does kinda look like one— and the fiery woman would be damned if she let that talent go to waste.

She was sure that her little sister, Mikoto Uchiha would die of jealousy once she met Hinata. Sure, Itachi was great and all, plus little Sasuke was a cute child but they could never compare to the lovable Hinata. How she'd love to introduce them, the young heiress needed to know more people than just her Hyuuga cousins.

Tsubaki's musings were cut short when she heard soft steps right outside her room. Why would anyone be awake at-she glanced at the clock-three in the morning? Could it be that Chibi was having trouble sleeping again, it has been a month without her sleeping aid.

After ten minutes of debate the woman sighed, it's not like she was in the middle of a very good dream (like that one time she was back in the Academy with Tsume) or even sleeping so she dragged her feet to the shoji screen and slid it open.

Just as predicted, there was Hinata curled up in a small bundle next to the side of the door. The girl immediately stood up and bowed while stuttering a load of apologies as Tsubaki looked at her with crossed arms and a raised brow. "Must you look like I'm about to throw you off the Hokage Mountain?"

"I didn't-uh, didn't mean to wa-wake you up, Hahaue," she spluttered with her palms in the air as she proceeded to explain the reason she was sitting on the floor outside someone else's room at three o'clock of the fucking morning.

Tsubaki only shook her head with a smirk. Little Chibi had no idea how amusing-but oh so pesky she could be sometimes. "Can't sleep?"

Hinata froze and looked to the ground in shame, playing with her fingers behind her back.

The woman's eye twitched in distaste but didn't comment on that aggravating quirk. At least Hinata heeded her advice and hid the movement behind herself.

Said woman sighed and knelt to see the girl's white eyes from under her bangs, Looks like Chibi's bangs need a trim, and placed a gentle hand on her head. "It's okay, you can tell me what's wrong."

A small prompt from Tsubaki was all it took for Hinata to voice her problems. "I can't sleep! I-I'm not tired!" her eyes went glassy and looked up to her mother's pretty obsidian orbs in search for a solution. "Do-do you know what I should, um, should do?"

As if Tsubaki's previous irritation was never present, the woman suddenly gave Hinata a bright smile as her eyes turned red. "Oh, oh! I know, why don't we play tag?"

The heiress looked up at the woman with worry. "But wh—what if Chichiue gets mad?"

Tsubaki scoffed at the notion. "What Hiashi doesn't know won't hurt him," she spoke with her trademark arrogance, "so make sure to be really quiet, okay Chibi? We can get an early morning snack while we're at it."

This was just the way most Uchiha spoke, they usually didn't mean to be rude, or at least that's what one of her Branch House cousins said.

Now that she thought about it, most of them aren't even her cousins. What would that make them then? Ah, doesn't matter, they're still family.

"Oh...alright. Who's it?"

The woman hummed and stood back up to her full height. "You will be it." she walked over to a vanity and tied a bell to her wrist before picking up a cloth and covering Hinata's eyes. "Do you remember how to find me?"

With an affirmative nod the girl closed her eyes since now they wouldn't help her. This game consisted of finding a target while blindfolded, her mother insisted it's more fun than the original version because it forces whoever is 'it' to use their other senses and to be more stealthy if they are fleeing from whoever is 'it'.

After taking a deep breath, she focused on waiting for the sound of footsteps since her mother refused to use perfume ("Using those things is the fastest way to get tracked and killed.")

Was her mother still standing there or is she just being very quiet? Hinata walked to the place she last saw her and stretched out her hands. A step could be heard and then another and another. It seemed that Tsubaki was heading forward.

Hinata followed her down the hall at a rather fast pace. Somehow, she felt as if she knew all the twists and turns within the compound. She already knew her way around the enormous place, but it felt strange to walk around and not get knocked into a wall of whatever the other Hyuugas leave around. Perhaps she was getting better at the game.

To Hinata it felt like an eternity, following the ring of a bell around a place that was strangely lacking the presence of the rest of her kin, but she paid it no mind. If she could feel her mother's presence then there was nothing to worry about.

* * *

As Hinata held on to her mother's yukata (the one that the Council hated so much) the next morning she couldn't help but feel amazed at how animated she felt and even more amazed that it took a mere flick of the Sharingan to get the rest she needed in order to feel that way. At the same time, she couldn't help but feel like a fool for not realizing it sooner. Maybe she should ask her tutor to tell her about the Uchiha Clan's Kekki Genkai.

For the meantime, she decided to forget her mistakes and look around the busy streets of Konohagakure. While it wasn't her first time outside of the Hyuuga Compound, it was rare for her to walk around the village since most of her time was dedicated to going over scrolls with her mother and tutor.

While the Hyuuga Clan was paranoid lot (let's be honest, the Cursed Seal just proves it), Hinata found it strange to see the civilians bustling through the streets as loudly as usual and it was then that she questioned just how informed they were. They seemed so calm, not a hint of worry or stress, why have they not been informed?

What if enemies wanted to take their eyes too?

Those without developed chakra are no match even for a genin, how safe was the village, really? Did the Hokage know?

 _Of course he knows! If he believes the village is not compromised, then there is no reason to spread panic. He's a smart guy, right?_

"Ne, Hahaue?"

Tsubaki hummed.

"Konohagakure is safe, right?"

"Yes, we have scouts stationed all over Hi no Kuni."

Hinata nodded and held her mother's sleeve. "No one's gonna take my eyes, right?"

Tsubaki nearly scoffed but toned it down to merely raising a brow. "I will kill anyone who wishes you harm, Chibi," she reassured, "but if something were to happen to me and Ko, you must head straight to the Uchihas, is that clear?"

Hinata look into those pretty obsidian eyes and nodded with a solemn expression. "Yes, Hahaue."

* * *

 **Tetsu no Kuni- Land of Iron**

 **Hi, Kay! Thank you for the nice review, I'm doing my best to keep everyone in character but truth be told, it has been a while since I last watched Naruto (plus this is an AU) so I apologize if anyone _does_ get out of character.**

 **Sara: As you now know, Mikoto is Hinata's aunt.**

 **mynintendo: As for her kekkei genkai...I want it to be a surprise, so you guys will find out in a few chapters.**

 **Do you guys like Tsubaki Uchiha or hate her as much as I hate Neji's death?**

 **Anyway, guess who has been binge watching Avatar: The Last Airbender! I'm not the most creative person around but I want to give Hinata the original jutsu she deserves so when I found out that she has an affinity to fire...Well, think about Azula, Mai and Ty Lee.**

 **Thank you for the reviews! Remember that I'm always happy with a 'hi' so don't be shy and leave without telling me what you think!**


	4. Chapter 3

Edited 01/01/2020

 **Happy new year everyone! I hope you guys had a good time during the holidays!**

 **Just a heads up, you might want to reread everything since I changed a good portion of the story. I'm not a good writer and my pacing is awful, so I wanted to fix that as much as I could and I also changed the plot slightly. I'm sorry. Again.**

 **I'd like to apologize again, I just realized that the website didn't upload the changes I made, but they should up now**

* * *

The first thing Hinata noticed about the Uchiha District was the emblems, red and white fans anywhere she looked. Just like her Main House cousin said, the Uchiha Clan did seem like a flock of prideful people and probably were, but at that moment the young heiress could only appreciate the waves and occasional smiles those people gave her.

They all seemed to like Hahaue as well, greeting her from across the street or stopping by to welcome her back. They are nice people, Hinata concluded. A kind woman even gave her the cinnamon bun she was currently eating.

"Hey! Long time no see, Tsubaki-sensei!" a teenage boy exclaimed with a bright smile from the other side of the street as he jogged over to them. The older woman looked at him with playful exasperation as she came to a stop. "Who's the kid?"

"Hinata, this is Kitaro. Kitaro, Hinata. I was his Jounin instructor a few years back."

Hinata tilted her head at the strange boy and bowed accordingly. Manners have been ingrained to her being the moment she was born and was aware of the severe repercussions if not followed properly. "It-it is a pleasure to, um, to meet you, Uchiha-san."

The boy's smile widened even more and bent down to ruffle her hair. "Bah, forget formalities-there are like a hundred 'Uchiha-sans' around here." with wide eyes at the sudden contact, the heiress grasped at her mother's yukata and bunched the fabric in her tiny fist. Physical contact in the Hyuuga Compound was...Not quite frowned upon, but it wasn't common by any means.

Tsubaki audibly sighed and gently pushed her hesitant daughter towards Kitaro. "He doesn't mean any harm, Chibi. That's merely the way this idiot usually behaves."

Kitaro blanched as his jaw comically dropped to the ground. "What? Here I thought I was your favorite student..."

The Tsubaki wore a deadpan look on her face. "At least you're better behaved than Shisui, I suppose."

He took Hinata by the shoulders and swayed her back and forth, as if lulling a child, which he was. "You don't think I'm an idiot, do you?"

She owlishly blinked and slowly shook her head. Hyperactive did not mean stupid.

"Don't be ridiculous, Kitaro, she's too polite to say the truth," Hinata, now in the background desperately denied the comment. "Hmph, how you are part of the police force is beyond me, kid." Tsubaki (the sadistic demon, according to Kitaro) jabbed once again. The boy never ceased to amuse her, riling up her hotheaded ex-student used to be one of her favorite pastimes.

"Through hard work, obviously. They noticed my amazing skills and begged meto join."

"You don't say...I could've sworn you were rejected a few times before getting accepted."

"Th-that was just a test!"

Tsubaki smirked and clicked her tongue. "Whatever fantasy makes you feel better," with that said, the former instructor took her daughter's hand in her own and continued down the road. After a few steps she paused and turned back to Kitaro. "Gaki."

"Hey! I'm a man, Sensei!"

* * *

"Tsubaki-nee-san! What brings you two here?" an overjoyed Mikoto Uchiha greeted them. While Hinata had only heard about that woman from her mother, she sounded like a nice person and a formidable jounin. Now that she took a look at her from behind Tsubaki's yukata, the woman seemed more like a brighter, more cheery look alike of Hahaue.

"I think it's time for Chibi to meet the rest of her family, no?" Without waiting for an invitation from Mikoto, her mother barged in with her daughter on her heels. While Hinata believed that action to be rude, she would not contradict her mother. Hahaue knows best, after all.

"Of course!" Mikoto hugged Tsubaki, "my boys are out and Fugaku is working but they should be back soon."

"Perfect, I wanted you to meet her first!" she pushed Hinata to Mikoto who wrapped her in a hug.

"Right, we met when you were younger. My name is Mikoto, I'm your aunt."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Uchiha-sama!" Hinata bowed. She owed that respect to clan heads.

"Ah no, I'm not one for formalities," Mikoto laughed, "honestly, no one here is too big on them. This is a Hyuuga-free zone after all." She elbowed Tsubaki.

"I-I'm sorry."

Tsubaki sighed, "you are not supposed to apologize, where is your pride?"

Hinata hid her hands behind her back and fiddled with her sleeves.

"Don't worry Hinata, you're a nice girl, it's okay to be polite." Mikoto smiled and led her guests to the kitchen. "Is chamomile alright with you, Hinata?"

She nodded.

"Um, Mikoto-san?"

She smiled and shook her head in exasperation, "perhaps one day I'll be 'Auntie' but this will do for now."

"Are you a kunoichi like Hahaue?" Hinata asked as she looked around for a kunai pouch or any weapon in general. All shinobi have those, right?

"Of course she is!" Tsubaki swingged an arm around Mikoto as she prepared the tea, "She was the best of her year in the academy, too. Left poor Fugaku's pride in shambles!" She snickered. Men were too competitive for their own good.

"Oh, so where's your hitai-ate, Mikoto-san?" she tilted her head as she surveyed the Uchiha Matriarch, "Is-is it lost?"

"I put it somewhere in my room, I'd hate to see it ruined by anything that's not mission related"

"She's quite the sentimental one, Chibi," the Hyuuga Matriarch smirked as Mikoto served tea and took a seat across from her guests, "I bet she sealed her wedding garments in a scroll so she can pass them on to a daughter in law in perfect condition."

Mikoto huffed as she felt her cheeks burn, "It's... an heirloom, Nee-san."

"Pish posh! It'll be out of date by the time Itachi's of age," Tsubaki exclaimed. "None of the girls of his generation will want something so conservative." As time passed, it seemed girls wore less and less fabric. Sometimes she wondered if her great-grandchildren would end up wearing bikinis for missions.

"...you think?" Mikoto looked a bit crestfallen.

To clear up any doubts, Hinata innocently chimed in after taking a sip of tea. "Hahaue threw away her wedding robesaway because they-they got old. She said she'd get me new ones when I'm older."

"Perhaps she's right," Mikoto pouted, "but I'll still keep it, just in case."

After that, the trio quietly enjoyed their tea and answered Hinata's questions about the Shinobi World and her mother's clan.

"Do you think my chakra nature is fire like you two?" Hinata asked in amazement. A magic paper that could tell your chakra nature sounded pretty cool to her.

"There's a good chance it is, fire nature runs in the family," Tsubaki said proudly.

"Can I see it?"

Mikoto and Tsubaki blinked and glanced at each other before breaking into delighted smiles. Hinata wondered if being a madwoman was genetic.

"Yes! Yes! Let's spar, Nee-san. You haven't had a chance to do so in a while, right?

"I reckon so. Let's show Chibi!"

With that being said, they dragged Hinata out of the house to a lake. She wished they had a lake in the Hyuuga Compound too, it would be fun to walk on it once she learned how to.

"Just sit here on the dock and watch, okay Chibi?"

"Yes, Hahaue."

Hinata calmly took a bite of the dango Mikoto had given her as a fireball flew past her head. Her mother and aunt said they didn't actually mean to kill each other so she supposed everything was under control. It was pretty exciting to see such a spar up close.

It was obvious, even to a child that these two women were among the best. They exchanged blows on the water until Mikoto made distance between them and started making hand signs too fast for Hinata to attempt to recognize them.

She took a deep breath and blew a gust of fire to Tsubaki who raised a water barrier. They returned to taijutsu. Then shurikenjutsu. Hinata was amazed by their speed and precision because it must have taken them ages to be able to throw kunai and shuriken so accurately.

Said girl nearly fell into the water as a boy took a seat beside her. He looked familiar, probably Mikoto's youngest son.

"Kaa-san and Oba-san are really cool, right?" spoke the kid. He seemed nice and close to her age.

Hinata nodded, "maybe one day I'll be as good."

The boy readily agreed and added, "I'm Sasuke, by the way."

"Oh, okay." After a moment of going over the short conversation in her mind, she then realized her rudeness. "I'm sorry! My name is Hinata!"


	5. Chapter4

**Hello again! You guys thought I was going to disappear for another few months right? Think again! I'll try my best to not abandon the story before finishing it.**

 **Thank you so much to those who bother to read this!**

 **Marihimesama: You have no idea how happy I was with your reviews! I've always been pretty average if not bad at writing so it really made my day to know what you think and it definitely motivated me to keep up the work**

 **Guest: Thank you reading, I'm glad you liked the previous chapter. Honestly, it's nice to know that people are happy to see updates from me. I great confidence booster!**

 **Nanananna: I'm glad you like Tsubaki since I know OCs aren't too popular in fics. Don't worry, I'll try to update once a week if I have time**

 **LB Cat: Is that name from Miraculous Ladybug? Thank you for taking the time to review, believe me, it always makes my day much brighter when I know that people read this and like it**

Needless to say, Hinata was completely taken with everything the Uchiha Clan had to offer by the time she and her new friend were ushered back in the house after the two women decided to call it a draw.

Sasuke quickly took Hinata's hand and bolted to his room where he promptly showed her every toy he found interesting. It was great to finally have someone his age who would play with him--she was even his cousin! And unlike Shisui, she promised not to run off with Itachi.

"This one looks nice!" Hinata exclaimed as she hugged a plush dinosaur to her chest.

"Oh yeah, Nii-san got it when he was on a mission," Sasuke paused and digged through his memory. "Um I think it was...Chai no Kuni?"

The heiress hummed in appreciation. "Hahaue said she'll take me there when I'm older."

"I gonna travel the world one day," he sighed, and looked at a mini globe across the room, "but Nii-san said I have to become a shinobi first. You can come with me if you want!"

"Really?" Hinata pouted, "but that means you'll go to the Academy…"

"It's okay, Nii-san said he'd help me practice."

"He's that good?"

"Of course!" Sasuke exclaimed with indignation,

"he's the best shinobi ever! He always hits all the targets in the center!"

"That does sound cool," she admitted. "I think shurikenjutsu is interesting too."

"Yeah! Maybe we can watch him later!"

Hinata then got a brilliant idea and looked around the room with the dinosaur plushie in one hand and asked, "do you have a kunai?"

Sasuke shook his head with confusion written on his face. Didn't girls prefer toys or just talking? Not that he minded Hinata's interest in the weapon, he would very much like to get his hands on one.

"I'm sure we can find one in Nii-san's room! He has a bunch of stuff there."

"Will he let us?"

"Um… I think so?" He took Hinata's free hand and led her away, "don't worry, he's away with Shisui for now."

While not looking entirely convinced, Hinata followed him and reassured herself. "We're just gonna borrow it, right?"

"Yeah, we'll return it."

They made their way 'stealthily' to their destination and slowly cracked the screen open.

The first thing Hinata noticed was that for someone who was constantly out on missions the room wasn't too bare. It was a bit messy, in fact. Probably what her mother would call organized chaos. Sasuke's brother seemed to enjoy collecting foreign trinkets and a few plants by the window. There was a copy of Medicinal Herbs of Hi no Kuni by Inoichi Yamanaka beside those plants too.

Well if he likes plants like me and Hahaue, he won't mind if we borrow a kunai.

Sasuke started to search the drawers of the desk while Hinata looked around the bookcase with no success. Nothing in the bathroom, nothing in the wardrobe. They started to wonder if Itachi took everything with him or hid his weapons on purpose which led Hinata to think a bit deeper.

Where would an active shinobi, someone who regularly risks his life on all sorts of missions hide a kunai?

Somewhere close, where it can be reached with ease. But reached from where? From where one is most vulnerable which is...

Hinata scanned the room and zoomed in on the bed. She reached under the pillow and touched cold metal.

The pair quickly took the kunai and hurried back to Sasuke's room where the heiress hurriedly explained how to hold it and showed him the appropriate form. The raven haired boy caught on surprisingly fast and moved it around for a bit.

"You're gonna be the best in the Academy!" Sasuke sounded very sure. "You could teach me stuff and I'll show you what Nii-san teaches me."

Hinata not so much, "I don't really know a lot… what if I don't learn fast enough?"

"We'll practice together! If it's two of us, we can make the older kids show us jutsus too."

"Well," the heiress smiled, "we will work hard to be the best."

After a moment of silence Sasuke asked, "do you know how throw it?"

"Um, well Hahaue will show me when I get better at remembering pressure points...I'm sorry."

Sasuke deflated and passed the kunai to Hinata. "One day you're gonna teach me, right?"

"I--I can try."

At first, Hinata wasn't too sure about visiting her mother's clan but now she was happy that she met them. Now she would have a friend in the Academy and someone to practice with. She wholeheartedly approved of her cousin, Sasuke Uchiha.

It wasn't until some time later that the two finally gave up the kunai and found other items of interest. They built a rather large block castle which was guarded by the dinosaur now named Ryu and surrounded by enemy shinobi under the command of Sasuke the Great.

Everything was going smoothly until Mikoto shouted for the presence of Hinata and Sasuke for lunch and to introduce the heiress to her first son.

The children froze and looked at the kunai resting on the floor, far from them with dread.

"You put it back and I'll tell Mikoto-san that you're cleaning up your room!" Hinata hissed and ran off to where she heard her aunt.

Thankfully Sasuke's house wasn't nearly as big as the compound and it was easy to find her way to the kitchen where everyone else was gathered.

Tsubaki took Hinata by the shoulders and placed her in front of an older version of her new playmate. "Chibi, this is your cousin, Itachi. Itachi, meet Hinata."

The two bowed accordingly (though it might have looked awkward on Hinata's part since she still clutched a plush dinosaur in her left hand) as the older women smiled in approval. Things could only go uphill for the Uchiha Clan if those two got along.

The Council of Konoha has been at odds with them ever since the attack of the Kyuubi--those wretched old fools even tried to send them to the outskirts of the village but ultimately failed due to the intervention of Hiashi Hyuuga. Hinata will eventually inherit the power to back the Uchiha Clan until they are able to prove themselves innocent and a great asset to the village, but Tsuabki wanted her to see for herself who she was to defend.

"You two will be the guardians of our allied clans, be sure to get along," Mikoto beamed and then scanned the room. "Ah, you wouldn't know where Sasuke is, Hinata?"

"Oh yeah…" Hinata hesitated, "um, he is--he is cleaning up our mess, Mikoto-san."

Both the Uchiha Matriarch and Itachi raised a brow at that. Since when does Sasuke clean up after himself?

"That is certainly new," Mikoto laughed, "would you mind bringing him here?"

Hinata bit her lip and nodded.

"Allow me to escort you." The heir offered.

"N--NO! I can go myself!"

Tsubaki blanched.

Mikoto rubbed her eyes.

Itachi merely blinked.

Hinata ran off to find her playmate.

By the time she had found him, Sasuke had already put back the kunai and was making his way to the kitchen. The heiress could only sigh in relief as she tugged his hand to hurry along.

\--

If Hinata thought she was already in love with everything she has seen from the Uchiha Clan, she couldn't begin to articulate how amazing their traditional dishes were.

Are they supposed to have so many tomatoes, though?

As if reading her mind, Itachi said in amusement, "they're Sasuke's favorite food."

"I'm sorry! I wasn't being--being picky…"

"Of course you weren't," Sasuke said as if it were obvious, "everyone like tomatoes."

Tsubaki smiled while Mikoto couldn't decide between exasperation or amusement. All three of them seemed to be getting along quite nicely despite Hinata's initial refusal of being escorted. Maybe she was just jumpy after spending abnormal time outside the Hyuuga Compound.

"Not everyone likes what you like, Sasuke." Mikoto sighed as she said that for what was probably the 104th time she had reminded her son during that week .

"But they're still good," he mumbled before stuffing himself with another mouthful of onigiri.

"Um, Itachi-san?" Hinata squeaked as she held the stuffed dinosaur to her face, "can you tell us about your travels?"

"Yeah, Nii-san! Tell her about that weird village with the masks!"

The older boy looked at Hinata's mother for permission. Of course, he had no intention of scaring the tiny girl but only her mother could tell how much she is able to hear.

Tsubaki smiled brightly and nodded.

The heir placed his chopsticks on the table and searched his mind for a way to not make the story frightening to the seemingly mousy girl before him. And of course--not anger her mother or his own by proxy.

"Well, in Kawa no Kuni there are lots of mountains and there is a cave system where a group of bad people decided to make it their meeting spot."

"And what did they do?" Hinata asked.

"Well, they scared people because they were... bad." Itachi finished lamely. He certainly didn't expect the girl to ask about their crimes.

The heiress still looked at him expectantly with doe-like eyes.

"They harmed innocent people around the area and slowed trade until it became a problem. Villages need trade to restock their necessities."

"Oh! Like the shortage of tea here, but worse?"

"That's right, I take it you're a fan of tea if you've noticed?" Itachi gladly changed the subject. Tea was safe, missions were not.

"Yes! Chamomile is my favorite, but cinnamon tea is fine too."

"I like tea too." Sasuke sulked beside his brother.

Mikoto snickered with Tsubaki on the other end of the table as they discussed the cuteness of such a blatant lie.

"Do you, now Otouto?"

"Yes!"

"Maybe you two could come to the Hyuuga Compound, I'm sure we have tea leaves somewhere there."

From the other end, Tsubaki smiled apologetically. "I'm afraid we don't have tea leaves anymore, they don't like the cold weather of Hi no Kuni."

Hinata deflated with a long sigh as the other heir patted her head in an attempt to comfort her. Sasuke on the other hand sighed in relief for tea discussion was finally over.

"Ne, Kaa-san?" the youngest Uchiha asked.

Mikoto hummed.

"Can I have a kunai too?"

"Of course not!" She exclaimed." Itachi! I told you not take him anywhere near training areas!"

"I didn't, we only stopped by the bakery and Inabi brought him back."

The Hyuuga Matriarch rubbed the back of her neck. "Ah no, it may have been my fault… Sorry."

Mikoto raised a brow in disbelief. "How?"

"I gave Hinata a kunai of her own. I'm teaching her how to use it."

"Yeah, that way no one will steal my eyes." Hinata spoke quietly. "It's fun too!"

Itachi and Mikoto looked at the girl with sudden pity and anger. Those paranoid white eyed bastards must have been running their mouths again. Such thoughts were unfortunately a common occurrence within Doujutsu clans.

"Who told her that," Mikoto hissed as she took Tsubaki by the shoulder and led her outside to a humble garden, "why does she think that way?"

"It's not just her," she sighed, "Kumogakure is targeting Hyuugas specifically and you know how's the rumor mill."

"I see, is that why she's interested in shurikenjutsu?"

"No," Tsubaki admitted, "it's me who feels better if she knows even a little about handling weapons."

"I worry about my kids as well, Nee-san."

"Yeah yeah, but unlike me you don't risk little Sasuke's fingers with blades, I know."

The two sat on the porch while Itachi was being tormented by the children's questions. How selfless, the women mused.

"Perhaps Hinata should spend a bit more time around here."

"No shit." The Hyuuga Matriarch snorted. "I really needed a breather too."

"You know what we should do in a situation like this?" Mikoto asked.

"What?"

"Retail therapy."

"Really?" She nearly laughed, "In the middle of war, Retail therapy?"

"Why not? We must take advantage of the perks of clan leadership." Mikoto smirked as the true Uchiha she is. It's genetic.

"Let me get Hinata--"

"--No. Itachi can babysit, let's go."


	6. Chapter 5

**I know it's late but I had a lot of work today but I haven't broken my promise yet. Mission Chapter Every Week is still on a roll!**

 **LB Cat: I wasn't too sure what people would like me adding Hinata's mother since no one can actually tell what is Canon or not about her. I haven't watched Sailor Moon but I think I'll give it a try if I have time. As for ML, I'm not happy with how things ended in season 3 but it really amazes me how it went from a typical kids show to something really interesting. *cough* Can't say I'm not a Gabenath fan *cough***

 **Guest: lol yes, this is supposed to be a generally happy AU for the Uchihas but I enjoy messing with kid!Itachi since he has always been a stoic character. It is indeed karma for the massacre. May the odds be ever in your favor Itachi.**

* * *

After a while of storytelling Itachi (with much dismay) realized a few things. None of them were good.

For one, his mother and aunt had no intentions of returning soon and his father who dropped in later quickly disappeared in a cloud of smoke after greeting him and the kids.

Was this some form of divine retribution for something he had done in another life? Itachi was thoroughly convinced he had done no wrong with his clan and village so far.

"So primroses only grow when it's cold?"

"Yes."

"And an iris would die when it's cold?"

"Yes-"

"-who cares about flowers?" Sasuke grumbled beside Hinata who ignored the comment.

"How about foxglove?"

"I'd say around autumn, but no one would actually grow it," Itachi explained, "it's a particularly toxic plant-lethal on children and small animals."

Then why does Hahaue have a patch of foxglove in her garden? Hinata wondered. Maybe that was the reason she didn't like anyone around her garden without supervision.

"Why do you know so much about flowers, Nii-san?"

"It was part of what we studied in the Academy."

 _Why do they ask so many questions?_

* * *

"That one looks great! I should give it to Chibi as a birthday gift!"

Mikoto facepalmed. "Why would a three year old want a pointy boomerang?"

"You're right," Tsubaki gasped, "a glaive would be much better!"

"No. Just no, Nee-san."

The older Uchiha dropped the glaive with disappointment written all over her face. "What do you suggest oh wise woman?"

"How about something normal like a hairpin?"

"Yeah, that sounds good."

But Tsubaki didn't move from her spot.

Mikoto raised a brow.

"So, uh, where do we find those?"

* * *

"Nii-san can you show us how to throw a kunai?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"Because I don't want my dango privileges taken."

Hinata scoffed in disbelief. "Dango privileges? They're not worth it."

"Then what is?" The other heir challenged with slight amusement. Maybe the two monsters weren't as bad as he thought.

"Cinnamon bun privileges, of course."

"If you think that's what is best, I am sorry."

Hinata clutched the dinosaur to her chest. "Itachi-san is missing out ."

Sasuke shook his head in disappointment and said mournfully, "neither of you have seen the truth. Onigiri with lots of tomatoes is the true treat."

The boy froze when he felt two icy glares from his kin. _Hmph_. Treacherous sweet toothed fools.

* * *

"You were right!" Tsubaki exclaimed as she examined the small bow with hidden senbon.

Mikoto felt her eye twitch.

"No pointy things."

"So you used wire to not waste weapons?"

"Yes."

"And you took on three people at once?"

"Yes."

"And you killed them?"

"Ye-" wait a minute, "Why are we speaking of this, Hinata-san?"

The girl shrugged in a disturbingly nonchalant manner as she hugged the plush dinosaur, "I was just wondering."

"...I see."

* * *

"Oi, Nee-san! Check this out!"

"Oh that fabric looks lovely. Pity you only have boys."

Mikoto didn't look very amused. _One day I'll have a daughter in law to dress up._

* * *

"Why don't we play the silent game?"

This caught Hinata and Sasuke's attention very quickly.

"How does it work?" the pair asked eagerly.

Itachi smiled in amusement. "The one who makes a noise first loses."

It worked out pretty well for the first few minutes before the small pair decided to start poking each other in order to make the other lose. He decided that a new strategy was needed to achieve peace and silence.

"How about this," he offered, "I'll give the winner a piggyback ride."

Itachi was happy to say that the new conditions certainly did the trick after Sasuke explained what a piggyback ride was to Hinata. He started to wonder how exactly was the Hyuuga Clan raising the girl when he noticed her lack of understanding when it came to simple games such as tag or hide and seek. She always seemed to throw in a handicap for herself in every possible way.

That aside, Hinata was rather nice and made as much good company as a two year old possibly could. It was also comforting to know that Sasuke would have a friend outside the clan since he spent plenty of time with himself, Shisui, or his mother and sometimes Tsubaki who often dropped by to say hi but never before had she brought her daughter along.

It felt a bit humiliating that the fate of himself and his kin rested on the tiny heiress but he could manage. The girl really wasn't too bad as long as Sasuke, who was a bad influence, was not with her.

While Itachi mused Hinata busied herself with counting the 'scales' of the dinosaur and Sasuke decided to stare at the wall with great determination.

As time went by he was finally able to finish reading his book and sharpen a few weapons. It got pretty dull after that but he wasn't able to make either of the kids talk once the silence got agonizing.

Curse his brilliant idea.

* * *

The first to speak was Hinata who quickly greeted her mother when she and Mikoto returned with quite a few shopping bags. Itachi was sure they were hiding other bags in a scroll.

After a long goodbye the Hyuuga Matriarch and heiress left (along with Sasuke's dinosaur as a gift) and promised to come back soon.

It didn't cross Itachi's mind that it very well could have been the last time he saw the tiny Hyuuga until a week later.

* * *

As Hinata's third birthday approached, the war seemed to cool down until an armistice of sorts was offered. Konoha decided to offer their village as the site for the agreement despite Tsubaki Hyuuga's violent protests.

 _"you_ know _they want the Byakugan! Hinata is their best target!"_

It was common knowledge that the woman was a bit of a nut so most dismissed her fears as nonsense. Everyone was too happy that there would be no more bloodshed for a while at least to realize the truth behind Tsubaki's words.

As the Matriarch adjusted Hinata's obi, she tucked in a kunai within the folds.

When Hinata questioned this Tsubaki said sheepishly, "Just to be safe, Chibi. You can never be too cautious."

The heiress nodded and smiled. Hahaue is never wrong.

"Can we go to Mikoto-san's house after this?"

Tsubaki shook her head. "Perhaps tomorrow."

"Okay," Hinata said with obvious disappointment as she took her mother's hand.

On their way to the meeting area, the heiress noticed the slightly brighter atmosphere. The clan was happy to officially announce their heiress and celebrate the newfound peace.

It was also flattering that they all ditched the Hokage and Kumogakure's Head Nin for her.

Tsubaki on the other hand was fully armed under the yukata. Call her a paranoid freak, but her daughter's safety was her priority tonight.

Hiashi nodded at the two before stepping beside his wife and guiding them to face the Branch Cadets. Hinata thought they didn't look too happy, unlike the Main House.

Feeling intimidated, she held on to her mother's sleeve and scanned the faces for anyone familiar.

 _There!_

She gave Neji a shaky smile which he quickly returned. _Whew_ , Hinata thought. It was good to know that someone else shared her nervousness.

Neji tugged on his father's sleeve and said something to him. Hinata hoped it wasn't anything bad about her.

Soon after, her father took Neji and left Hizashi looking grim. Tsubaki placed a hand on his shoulder and apologized before whisking off her daughter.

Hinata always thought of herself as the next head of the Hyuuga Clan but it sure was exhausting and intimidating to be the center of attention. Maybe leadership wouldn't be her thing in the future, but she would try her best for the clan and her mother.

* * *

 _I'll make sure no one looks sad at gatherings when I'm leader,_ were Hinata's last thoughts before falling asleep.


	7. Chapter 6

**I'm amazed with myself, this is probably the first time I'm writing this consistantly! Also, thank you SOOO much for reading and reviewing, it always makes me happy and motivated when I know that people actually take the time to write something nice! Also, I'm sorry about the missing line breaks, I have no idea what's going on with my computer, but I think I've fixed it for this chapter so please let me know if you don't see them!**

 **on another note, I was just wondering why the Hyuuga Clan and Uchiha Clan are usually pitted as enemies who think they have the best eyes evah when I think they could make a formidable alliance. Or maybe I'm just saying this because I was forced to read Romeo and Juliet again recently.**

 **Marihimesama: Really, I can't begin to say how much I appreciate your support. I'm mostly a reader, but lately I realized how much it means to writers to see positive reviews and constructive criticism so thank you!**

 **LB Cat: Same goes to you, thank you for taking the time to write something nice! I know I'm far from a good writer, but I want to write what I want to read so it's good to know that I'm not the only who wishes to read something like this**

 **Guest: I'm glad that you like the dynamics so far, I hope you continue to enjoy the story! And don't worry about Hinata and her mom, I have plans... (cue evil laugh). Nah, jk I won't kill either of them.**

* * *

It felt like only a second had gone by before someone roughly pulled away her covers and grabbed her arm.

Hinata would have liked to scream but a hand muffled her cries. She bit the offending hand until she tasted blood and a curse was bit out. The person grabbed a fistful of her hair and moved swiftly along the shadows of the compound.

Hinata felt stiff. She couldn't bring herself to kick or slap her way to freedom. Maybe it was the feeling of powerlessness. Or maybe it was because a stranger was taking her away from the clan and her mother.

With unsteady hands she reached for the blade in her obi and tried to drive it through the unknown shinobi's chest. Much to her terror, he did nothing but slap it away without a single scratch.

Choking on tears, she remembered that her mother told her someone might try to take her. The heiress believed it was safe to assume that someone would save her soon or at least she hoped so.

She was right.

Politically speaking, Tsubaki (who was an Uchiha by birth and hated by the council) couldn't actually do anything to a shinobi from Kumogakure who would likely accuse her of lying and ignite another war which would start in the middle of Konoha but it didn't stop her from notifying Hiashi Hyuuga, a major authority figure in the village.

Not that she and Hiashi exactly got along, but he certainly didn't want to lose his own child and anger the Uchiha Clan. Even if they weren't in any position to do anything, they were sister clans and always backed each other since before the Warring Clans Era.

The unknown shinobi suddenly grunted and loosened his hold on Hinata who fell into someone else's arms. She looked up to see her father's face twisted in controlled anger. He was glaring at the crumpled body before him.

How he wished to kill the bastard who dared infiltrate his compound and attempt to take his heiress, but it was counterproductive. He only incapacitated the shinobi and waited with the tiny girl in his arms until Tsubaki arrived with the Hokage and Uchiha police.

After a few minutes had gone by, he looked more closely and noticed that the Kumogakure shinobi was abnormally still. Even if he was paralyzed, he should be cursing in pain or something by now. Hiashi activated his Byakugan and nearly screamed at what he saw.

The shinobi was dead.

This meant war as soon as Kumogakure's officials were informed.

The Hyuuga Patriarch scanned the body more closely and found another unpleasant surprise. Right on his chest was a suicide seal that was quickly vanishing with no trace.

 _Please let the Hokage come fast._

oOo

The village was in chaos with civilians running around to huddle in a corner with their relatives, Uchihas and Hyuugas tracking down every last uninvited Kumogakure shinobi, and Anbu racing to investigate.

In the Hyuuga Compound, Ko held a trembling heiress in a hidden chamber guarded by the elite of the family. If Kumogakure was desperate enough to attempt kidnapping a Hyuuga child, they would certainly meet a painful end.

Various clan heads and Kumogakure officials were gathered at the Hokage Tower, Hiashi and Tsubaki included. The room was bursting with palpable ill intent and loud voices demanding answers, Inuzuka ninkens bristling and Aburame insects buzzing.

The area continued to grow in tension until the Hokage entered and made his way to the front with slow and deliberate steps.

Without bothering to make a polite greeting, he addressed the topic of the night, "tonight, we have found reasons to believe that our guests of Kumogakure have abused the welcome we gave them and attempted to kidnap our Hyuuga heiress, Hinata-sama."

The Kumogakure officials merely looked offended and demanded an investigation for the assassination of their Head Nin which was conducted right away. The village continued in a state of disarray for another week while only Hyuuga Affair related shinobi came and went on the empty streets and rooftops of the village.

Hinata thought the weather seemed kind of bleak though everyone agreed that it suited the somber atmosphere. Out of everyone in the compound, only Tsubaki and Ko seemed capable of making her leave the safety of her mother's room which annoyed the council to no end. It was already difficult enough to begin the girl's training when all she seemed to want is to hide under a blanket with a ridiculous plush dinosaur and a kunai.

"Hinata-sama, believe us when we say we understand the fear of losing our eyes, but this is getting out of hand!"

The girl flinched and lowered her head. "I'm sorry."

The elder sighed, "relax, try the kata again."

"Yes."

After a short time, it became glaringly obvious that the heiress was no genius like Neji or Itachi but her memory was enough to compensate, the elders supposed. As one of them instructed Hinata, the others discussed their thoughts.

"At least she isn't as incompetent as the girls who entered the Academy just to follow her unfortunate Uchiha cousins."

The other scoffed, "of course not, gender aside, she was born into the Hyuuga Clan. Not even our most incompetent fail to become respectable in some way."

"I bet my best wine that she won't graduate the Academy with any honors."

"Ah, you're on."

Unknown to civilian families, it was rather common for clans to bet on final results in the Academy.

While the Academy is open to anyone, the gap between clan children and civilian children was usually much too large for them to be genuinely considered as a prospect for the position of genin much less graduate with honors, unless the village was in need of canon fodder. It wasn't really discrimination, but rather need.

Clan children were born with heightened senses, larger chakra pools and bodies that were specifically bred and raised for combat. The others simply could not hope to compete against them, it was a fact of life. The village needed capable soldiers, after all.

Once training was over, the elders left and Ko immediately made his way to Hinata with water and a snack. She took them with a small _thank you_ and gobbled everything up.

"Um, Ko-san?"

"Yes?"

"Do...do you have more cookies?"

The older Hyuuga sweatdropped, _what an appetite for such a small girl…_ "We can get more if you want, Hinata-sama. But only if you come."

The heiress hesitantly nodded and took his hand as they made their way to the kitchen. It never ceased to bother her when everyone bowed as she walked by. Who did they think she was, Kami-sama?

"Natsu-san!" Ko waved her over, "would you mind getting more cookies?"

"Sure thing," she kneeled to the girl's height, "how many would you like, Hinata-sama?"

The heiress looked up in thought for a moment and said, "I-I want all of them."

"Oh, well-how about five?"

Hinata shook her head, "I want all of them."

Natsu blinked slowly, " all of them?"

"All of them," Hinata confirmed.

oOo

When Tsubaki entered her room the last thing she expected was to find Hinata under a mountain of cookies and crumbs.

Ko waved feebly from a corner, "I can explain, Tsubaki-sama."

Said woman merely raised a brow at the mess and flicked her hand in dismissal. "Don't worry, why don't you call someone to help me clean this mess."

"Of course," and with that Ko hurried away from what was bound to be an even bigger mess.

"Would you mind explaining this, Chibi?"

"W-well, I don't wanna starve."

" _Starve?_ " Tsubaki spoke in disbelief.

"Mhm! Cause I'm not le-leaving this room again."

It took all of Tsubaki's willpower to not laugh at her daughter's trauma. Somehow, Hinata made it seem amusing.

"And why is that?"

"I don't want anyone to-to take me again."

"Why?"

The heiress munched on a cookie before answering, "I wanna stay with you and Ko and...I wanna stay here."

"Why?"

"...I was scared."

"I see. Why was that?"

"I don't wanna die, Hahaue," she whispered.

Tsubaki shrugged and took a seat beside Hinata. "If your wish is to live then make sure to train very hard. Make it impossible for anyone to kill you."

It was a lesson that Hinata took to heart for the rest of her life. Later on, she would admit to being a coward who would rather save her own life, but at the end, she found people who she loved enough to risk death. Her younger self would probably call her foolish for that.

oOo

The next time Hinata saw Sasuke and Itachi was a day later. After the older Uchiha boy sacrificed himself once again and let his younger kin ask questions, he and Sasuke decided to help her overcome her newfound fear of leaving the relative safety of her room. They took no notice of the way she came up with ridiculous ideas to remain within the confines of her mother's room and dragged her out.

Despite allowing them to take her out of the room, Hinata had no intentions of leaving her dinosaur and kunai behind. Itachi merely gave her a disturbed smile and offered his hand which the heiress took swiftly. Everyone always took her hand while walking around so it must be safer, she assumed.

"Would you li-like to see the garden?" which could be translated to _if you're gonna drag me around, let's go somewhere I like_. Her mother always did say that it was best to phrase things differently when it's for one's gain.

From Itachi's other side Sasuke answered, "Yeah! But...where _are_ they? This place is huge!"

"I'll show you," and with that she tugged on the hand she was holding and scurried across the compound, leaving the younger Uchiha boy open mouthed at the Hyuuga Clan's level of dedication for aesthetic purposes.

"You're _rich!_ "

Hinata shrugged as they came to a stop and faced a particularly large garden, "I'm not the one making money so-so I don't think...that I'm rich or anything."

"But it's still cool!" Sasuke argued. Itachi himself had to agree of course, wouldn't show it. Sheesh talk about trauma in the family.

"Um those beds over there are Hahaue's," the heiress gestured towards an area in a more secluded spot but made no move to get any closer.

"Is something the matter, Hinata-san?"

"Hahaue doesn't like it when people, um, when they get close."

Once he took a closer look, Itachi could understand why his aunt wouldn't like people around her garden. Every plant he saw there, he remembered from a textbook speaking of venomous plants. _No wonder Hinata-san knew plenty about those the other day._

Once again, a disturbed chill ran through his spine. What exactly was Tsubaki doing with the girl? Not even his father dedicated so much time to weaponizing him, unlike his aunt who seemed very focused on cultivating Hinata's knowledge at every moment possible.

He nearly jumped in fright when he someone call, "Hinata-sama!"

Said girl turned and found Natsu looking out of breath. "Yes?"

"The elders want to show you a new kata, I thought I should warn you."

"Thank you Natsu-san! I'll practice very hard!"

"Don't tell anyone I told you, but I think they will want to test you first. I think you should focus on getting down the first kata to perfection."

"Oh...okay, I'll do my best!"

The Hyuuga woman bowed at the three and gave the heiress a small smile before walking away.

Hinata looked sheepishly at her friends and fiddled with her hands behind her back. "Could you take me to the training area please?"


	8. Chapter 7

**Whew! I've had a rough week but here is the new chapter! Enjoy!**

 **LB Cat: Thank you!**

 **Guest: I'm happy that you liked the cookie scene, to be honest I remembered a scene like that in A Certain Scientific Railgun (you should totally watch this anime btw) so I thought it would be cute with Hinata. The treaty stuff will happen next chapter which will be posted next friday. Thank you for reviewing:) this is what makes me happy and motivates me**

* * *

I _don't know when exactly it started, but as far as I can remember, I've always been fascinated with fire. Be it the one from the candles that light the halls of the Hyuuga Compound, the one in the Uchiha District's fireplace, or the small flame Itachi lights when he decides to worsen his bags when pulling all nighters to read old scrolls in a dusty warehouse. I don't know why he even bothers to bring me along when I fall asleep nearly every time I go there, but that's another story._

 _I've managed to dig out some interesting stories about people who used a technique called 'bending' which involves using what I believe to be a nature transformation and manipulating it instead of releasing it like one would do for a jutsu. I'd like to see if I could recreate Firebending. It shouldn't be too hard, I already have a concept in mind._

 _As far as I've read, Firebending is the only art that can create an element out of thin air, but it doesn't seem to transformed chakra (if it is, I have a long road ahead of me if I intend to use my hands and not my lungs to create a flame). Maybe it's a small spark that is then turned into fire and fed by chakra. I'm definitely going to try it!_

 _-Excerpts taken from research notes of Hinata Hyuuga, 32nd head of the Hyuuga Clan and—_

"Awww! I can't read that last part, it's too blurry!" Exclaimed a researcher.

"Shut up and keep working," another grumbled.

oOo

Hinata was excited to see Neji in the training area since she didn't get to ask him how he was feeling after receiving the seal. Maybe she should introduce him, then he would get along with her other cousins too.

With that mind, she pulled Itachi and Sasuke by the sleeve and made her way over to Neji who owlishly blinked at her entourage mid-kata. Without forgetting his manners, he bowed and greeted the newcomers.

"Hinata-sama and um," he craned his neck to look at Sasuke's back, "Uchihas."

"This is Neji-nii-san," the heiress introduced, "and these are Sasuke and Itachi-san."

The three socially awkward boys stared at each other wondering who would make the first move. Hinata looked at the trio with watery eyes which prompted the elder Uchiha to stiffly bow and greet Neji. Much to his amusement, the heiress looked like she stars in her eyes after that. It was rather endearing.

Sasuke, on the other hand, was not amused at all when much of Hinata's attention went to her Hyuuga cousin as she fretted over a seal or something like that. What a jealous child, Itachi mused.

Once the forced introductions were over the Uchihas took a seat under a tree while Neji gave Hinata pointers as she performed a kata. Itachi occasionally suggested a change or two and tried to block out the massive annoyance that came with answering Sasuke's questions. He was starting to suspect it was Hinata who was a bad influence on his brother rather than the other way around.

The heiress meanwhile practised already memorized movements. Since Gentle Fist didn't consist of strong attacks the training consisted mostly of katas which were trained to the point of most fluidity, not strength. Sasuke thought it was rather anticlimactic.

Soon came time for Hinata to go train with the elders which left the Uchihas hanging around the other Hyuuga. Itachi did not like the competitive glint in the eyes of Neji and Sasuke as they waved goodbye to the heiress and wisely whistled away to the sidelines as the children bickered.

oOo

"Very well, Hinata-sama," one of the elders congratulated. "I believe you are ready for the next set of katas."

"Okay! I will work hard to-to um, get it right."

The elder sighed in exasperation but did not comment on the stuttering. "Watch carefully the first time and try to follow along on the second."

The heiress nodded and complied. It wasn't too difficult to remember, the hard part was to execute the moves in a smooth manner, fluid like water. Plus, if she did a good enough job they might let her see her cousins a bit sooner.

Sometimes she trembled a bit due to lack of muscle when they asked her to stay in a certain position for some time. They said it would help her not lose her composure during an actual fight.

When it was time to follow along the elders started whispering amongst themselves. "She's sloppy, but at least she can perform the kata without looking too much at Hisoka-san."

"What did I tell you?" another elder hissed. "She's not half bad for a girl."

"Hmph. we will see about that."

The elders decided it wasn't good enough and asked her to try it again. And again. And again.

Not that she wasn't willing to give training her all, but by the fifth try, Hinata's arms were exhausted but she was sure she wouldn't be forgetting the routine any time soon.

"You seem to be doing well enough, but please try to perform this set along with the previous one as many times as you can."

The session continued for some time (now on theory of chakra) until the elders decided to be compassionate for once and allowed Hinata to leave a bit earlier than usual and spend time with her Uchiha cousins before they had to leave (because of course, she had no permission to mingle with her Branch Cadet cousin). She quickly made her way to the hallway where Ko was waiting with a snack and took his hand as he guided her through the compound.

"How was it this time, Hinata-sama?" Ko asked as she finished her snack.

The heiress smiled, "I think I might be get-getting better."

"I know for a fact you're doing just fine right now," Ko assured. "Don't listen to the elders if they rush you, alright?"

"Yeah! Don't worry."

"You can always ask me if you need help, I'll be happy to assist you."

"Thank you, Ko-san!"

Once again, everyone made way for the tiny heiress and bowed as she passed by. Hinata did her best to return the bows but the scandalized (or offended) looks on everyone's faces made her question her polite gesture. Soleil told her that it was expected of the Branch Cadets to bow at her wake so she supposed it would only be nice to return the gesture.

Looking at their reactions maybe it wasn't such a good idea to bow. She didn't want them to get mad at her.

Yeah, maybe it's nicer if I don't bow! But I'll ask Soleil-sensei just to make sure.

Sensing the slightly hostile atmosphere, Ko hurried along with the oblivious heiress to the courtyard where her visiting kin was located. Being a member of the Main House, he wasn't too popular with the Branch Cadets though not as unpopular as Hinata who was born with their hatred.

Once the Uchihas and Neji were in her sight Hinata thanked Ko and scurried over to them. She noticed that Sasuke and Neji were discussing (arguing) something about clans as Itachi held each of them by their collars away from the other.

Naive as ever, Hinata didn't give her older cousin a break, "why are you not letting them play, Itachi-san?"

Said boy didn't comment but looked at her with clear disdain. And here I thought she was on my side. The other two quickly stopped trying to hit each other and greeted Hinata with an innocent smile.

"How was training, Hinata-sama?"

"Did you have fun, Hinata?"

The two boys glared at each other while Hinata answered both and Itachi facepalmed behind her.

oOo

"I should check on Hinata!" Tsubaki exclaimed after finishing her tea in one gulp.

"No!" Mikoto hissed and pulled her sister back down. "Itachi and the entire Hyuuga Compound is watching her, she'll be fine."

"But-"

"-No! We're going to have a nice long chat and relax before seeing some kids again."

Tsubaki scoffed and crossed her arms. There was no getting through Mikoto. "Talk about what?"

"About the Hyuuga Affair."

"Ah, so that's what they're calling it now?" Tsubaki's tone went hollow.

The Uchiha Matriarch took her sister's hand and said carefully, "people are talking, you know. They say Kumogakure wants Hiashi's head."

"I know," she sighed. "The council is planning to sell off Hizashi in Hiashi's place."

Mikoto hummed and took another sip of tea. _Everything is getting worse._


	9. Chapter 8

**I'm still on a roll!**

 **storyreader21: It's not bad at all, you're on to something!**

 **Marihimesama: It's my pleasure to make Fridays a happy day for you! Thank you so much for the compliments, honestly, I feel like I'm horrible at setting the mood. I hope you have a great week!**

 **LB Cat: Of course I should thank you, not everyone considers my chickenscratch worthy of a review. I hope I'm improving as I write this story for you guys:)**

 **Guest: Lol yes, I'm not letting Shisui off the hook since he's Itachi's friend and must also contribute. I'm a big fan of fluff if you haven't noticed already! About Hizashi...sorry...but it won't be as bad as canon, I hope.**

 **Sara: I must be doing something right if Friday is also your favorite day of the week! I recently read a book called _The Hidden Diary of Marie Antoinette_ which tells her life through a diary. It's all fiction but I liked the format so I thought I could add something like that here. It would be pretty dumb for a shinobi to have a diary so research notes it is!**

 _oOo_

 _I will be graduating from the Academy very soon and I've been hearing people say that we should all have a summon before being deployed outside the village. To have a summon isn't rare but it isn't too common either, I've only met two summons in my life so far which are Anko-san's snakes and Shisui and Itachi's crows. The crows are my favorites (I'm very fond of birds), I like talking to them and feeding them when I can._

 _Speaking of them, I found Itachi and Shisui on my way to Hahaue's vault in Konoha's Bank today. We talked about summoning contracts and then crows and then about letting Sasuke and I sign the crow contract. Itachi refused, but offered to ask the police if they could give us a confiscated contract. I said I'm pretty sure his crows have dirt on him and that's why he won't share. Shisui found this hilarious._

 _I would like to do more research on summons but they are all so different and unique that I don't know where to start. I think I'll wait until I get my own summon to begin asking questions about their fighting style and history. If what I have heard is true, they have their very own world in which they live in when they are not with whoever signed a contract with them._

 _-Excerpts taken from research notes of Hinata Hyuuga, 32nd head of the Hyuuga Clan and—_

oOo

After that day of training, Hinata's mood couldn't get any better. She finally made friends with Neji, her Uchiha cousins visited very often, and her father decided to take over her training himself. He was more strict and fast paced than the elders but she was sure she could handle it if it would make him and her mother proud.

One time Neji and his father _(he looked just like Chichiue!)_ came and watched her train. Just as Hinata raised an arm, ready to strike Hiashi's hand away, a strange surge of fear came upon her and her father immediately pushed her behind him. He made a seal she didn't recognize and Neji's father fell to the ground clutching his forehead and writhing in pain.

It was then that she learned of the true nature of what was nicknamed the Caged Bird Seal. Was that why the Branch Cadets looked at her with anger? As much as Hinata felt guilty, she also felt relief. Relief that it wasn't her who was forced into servitude.

Neji started to keep his distance once more, but he assured her that he knew it wasn't her fault. Hinata was overjoyed to know so.

Eventually, the week ended with what Hinata considered good news but all of the Branch Cadets started to make their dislike for her a bit more obvious all of a sudden. The problem with Kumogakure was solved though no one but her mother wanted to tell her how that happened. Ko and her mother explained the event when they were on their way to Konoha's Bank as Hinata struggled and cried to go back to the safety of the compound.

Hizashi's death took its toll on the Branch Cadets and particularly on Neji, who was taken in by one of his older cousins. Now knowing what happened, Hinata decided to visit him and apologize. This time she promised herself to go without Ko so Neji wouldn't think that she was forcing him to accept her apologies.

But first thing first. Where to find Neji? He tended to spend his days in the dojo, but it was already way past midday and Hinata couldn't imagine herself training for so long. _Maybe he's in the kitchen getting a snack_ , the heiress concluded after taking a bite of her favorite cookies.

On her way to the kitchen, Hinata passed the dojo without a second look until she heard a loud thud in there. Out of concern for whoever was in there, she slid the screen open to find Neji on his knees. He seemed rather tired but stood back up and assaulted a poor training post.

"Um, Neji-nii-san?" Hinata called out. "Are-are you okay?"

No response.

"Aren't you tired?"

No response.

"Would you, um, would you like a piece?" the heiress offered as she did her best to cut a cookie in half. It seemed more like three fourths and one fourth so she waved the larger piece before her cousin.

As if suddenly snapping out of a reverie, Neji stopped hitting the post and looked at Hinata with confusion. "Why?"

"You look tired."

"They said you killed my father," he whispered.

"But-but I didn't hurt him!" Hinata exclaimed. "I didn't know he, um, he was gone until today."

Neji didn't speak but he decided to listen and the heiress was grateful for that.

"I wanted to say thank you."

With that being said, Hinata shoved both halves of the cookie in Neji's hands and quickly left the room. Her mother said it was best to not linger and make him get mad.

oOo

A service for Hizashi Hyuuga was held promptly and the peace was maintained. The event was dubbed the Hyuuga Affair, a subject no one dared broach in the vicinity of a Hyuuga or an Uchiha except for one fearless Anko Mitarashi who (unfortunately for Hinata) was one of Tsubaki and Mikoto's best friends.

Try as she might, Neji's new family didn't allow her to seek him out so Hinata left cookies for him every day after training. Mikoto praised her consistency which only served to reinforce her desire to get along with Neji once more, something that was easier said than done but Tsubaki's disappointment when she was close to giving up was a powerful motivator.

It took long months of persistence until her Hyuuga cousin approached her without another Branch Cadet to move him away from her presence. They talked for a bit and Hinata found out that his birthday passed without a gift from her.

Neji was already five when he received a storybook from Hinata (still three years old at the time) who asked Natsu to give it to him since his family didn't want him to have anything to do with the tiny heiress. Tsubaki wholeheartedly approved of her daughter's cunning at such a young age.

oOo

"Do that again!"

Hinata shook her head in denial.

"Come _on_! Show me how to do that!"

"But what if I hurt you?" the heiress challenged with a pout.

"You won't, your aim isn't bad."

 _Who in their right mind would want to be anywhere near a kunai chucking four year old,_ Itachi questioned as he carried Sasuke on his back and held Hinata's free hand. Not that he wasn't fond of them, but it seemed more likely for the tiny heiress to hit him with a kunai rather than an actual opponent.

Despite the Hyuuga Affair being relatively old news, she still refused to let go of the plush that his brother gave her. Itachi had the sneaking suspicion that there was another kunai hidden inside the dinosaur but didn't comment on it. The tiny heiress was probably still too scared to go around without it.

"My aim is terrible," she muttered.

"Don't concern yourself with kunais and fire as much, Hinata-san. This is more or less an Era of peace." Itachi interrupted.

Hinata only shrugged and pointed to a bakery. "Can we get something from there?"

Of course, he nearly said automatically.

In an attempt to appear nonchalant, the elder Uchiha pretended to consider the petition before agreeing and ignoring Sasuke's pleas to stay away from all those sweets. As they made their way Hinata suddenly felt someone grab get collar and tug her backwards.

"Oi, you brats," Shisui's unmistakable voice called out. "Aren't you going to say 'hi Shisui, I'm glad you're not dead' or something?"

Itachi and Sasuke groaned in annoyance while Hinata seemed to be the only one remotely happy to see Shisui again. "How was the mission?"

"You should've seen me save that girl, they love me in Chai no Kuni," he boasted with a proud look on his face.

Itachi cracked a smile at this and shook his head in amusement. "I'm sure they do."

"She was quite the looker, but nothing compared to our Izumi," Shisui said a bit more loudly so the blushing girl passing by could hear. Unfortunately for him, Hinata was sure she was looking at Itachi. _What a strange girl,_ she thought.

"It must've been genjutsu," Sasuke quietly jabbed as he was lowered to the ground. "No one likes you."

At this Shisui made an exaggerated gesture of surprise and the girl giggled as she walked away. Maybe there was hope for him. "I should take away your lunch for that, brat."

"No!"

"Yes!" he pulled on Sasuke's cheeks. "All those tomatoes shall be mine!"

"Stop bullying him, Shisui-san." the heiress said as she hid partially behind Itachi.

"It's just Shisui, not Shisui-san, remember?"

"Yeah."

"So?"

"You're still Shisui-san."

His eye twitched. "I see you're still on Sasuke's side. Here I thought you wanted to know more about Chai no Kuni."

"I do!" Hinata exclaimed and pulled Itachi's sleeve. "But you-you're not the only one who travels."

"Don't get me involved, Hinata-san." the long haired Uchiha sighed.

Shisui swinged an arm over the heir and ruffled his hair. "That is not how you treat a lady!"

"Don't bully him, Shisui!" Hinata and Sasuke hissed simultaneously.

oOo

She hugged the barely warm plush dinosaur to her chest and buried her nose on its head. At this point she reckoned that her fingertips were going blue. The trembling didn't help either.

"Ne, Hahaue?"

"Yes?"

"I'm cold," the heiress bit out as she wrapped her arms around herself.

"You won't always have a warm blanket during missions," Tsubaki reminded.

oOo

Soon came Sasuke's fifth birthday and on the following month, he entered the Academy. Hinata sometimes accompanied him and Mikoto (sometimes it was Itachi when he wasn't on a mission) to the Academy to see him off. Afterwards, Mikoto would take her to the market and show her how to pick the best products from all the options at a good price.

Sasuke said it was nice but then it got weird when some crazy girls started following him around. The heiress was concerned about those girls; what if they hurt Sasuke? Shisui and Itachi laughed at the idea and explained that it was the 'Uchiha Curse' that caused girls to follow them around.

"But I don't want girls following _me_ around!" Hinata said with a shiver.

"It's going to be boys for you, I think," Sasuke said with disgust.

"Don't worry Hinata-chan, we'll keep all pests away from you," Shisui assured. "Right, guys?"

The brothers nodded solemnly as they sharpened kunais.

With scary faces like theirs, Hinata was sure they could keep anyone away so she didn't worry too much about the curse. There were also more pressing matters to her.

Usually, her mother would watch her train when it was just her father serving as the instructor and not the elders but lately she seemed tired all the time and didn't want to get up in the mornings to watch her train. The heiress was worried for her mother's health and insisted on asking about her problem. Eventually, Hinata was told the truth, which was rather simple. She was going to become an older sister.

Hinata felt giddy at the prospect and told everything to Neji who only smiled and listened to her daydream. Though she had never considered having a younger sibling, she could already imagine herself teaching the baby how to talk and sneaking in sweets whenever the elders decided to implement a healthy meal routine. She was too happy to notice Tsubaki's dark expression as she gave the news.

As the rest of the year went by, Hinata activated her Byakugan and her lessons became spars with various clan members around her age. Whispers of her gender started to cease little by little as she defeated Hyuuga after Hyuuga.

Her birthday and the anniversary of Hizashi's death approached and despite this, Hiashi did not relent when it came to her training up until the very day of the service. Instead of sparring, Tsubaki was waiting for her with black garments to symbolize the mourning.

Once dressed, she asked Tsubaki if she could see Neji before heading over with the rest of the clan.

"Make it quick, okay Chibi?"

"Yes, Hahaue! Thank you!"

She searched the places where Neji was often seen to no avail, even with the use of her Byakugan and let's not even mention how rude it was considered to use it within the compound. Maybe he's still in his room, Hinata thought as she made her way to his section in the compound. She raised her hand to knock on the screen but stopped as soon as she heard a voice.

"You _have_ to stop this nonsense!" a female's voice screeched. "This isn't what Hizashi would've wanted."

"I wasn't aware that you spoke to the dead," Neji's cousin deadpanned.

The girl huffed and continued, "Do you think he wanted his son to mingle with that- _that_ girl? the one who killed him?"

"Don't speak that way of Hinata-sama, you fool! do you want them to activate your seal?"

"I don't care! why should a snot-nosed brat like her inherit the clan when Neji is clearly the better-"

"Quiet!"

She slapped his hand away and continued. "We need a man leading this clan and I know Neji is the one!"

Hinata did not need to hear more to know that Neji was not there, but she didn't want to seek him out on the verge of tears. Only he deserved to feel sad on the day his father died.


	10. Chapter 9

**I'm sorry, I've had a bad week and honestly didn't feel like writing but I'm not about to give up on my streak. I'm so proud of myself (even if it's probably the crappiest chapter I've written up until now)! If I have time, next Friday I'll try to fix this chapter a bit and also post the next one.**

 **Helly: Thank you! I love a good fluffy story so that's what I'm trying to write, I hope you guys like it. I'm glad I have someone else waiting for Friday, it's always fun to write when I know that someone enjoys it**

 **Guest: I thought no one would ask! To be honest, I'm more of a itahina fan but I was planning a nice sasuhina friendship because they are both adorable children who need more good stuff in their life. I was also planning a bit of sasunaru (on a platonic level) because let's be objective, they are more canon than any pairing I've seen in the series**

 **Guest: Even if it is a dude, she has a place with the Uchiha Clan, so the stress wouldn't be as bad as it probably was in canon. I swear she has some sort of anxiety disorder after all the stuff her clan put her through. Feel free to consider the entire story as revenge from all the people Itachi killed, I of all know that babysitting duty is the worst!**

 **LB Cat: It's a pleasure to know that this isn't as badly written as I think it is!**

* * *

The ceremony wouldn't happen until around an hour, so Hinata disregarded her mother's warning to stay clean and headed out with Ko to the marketplace, where she felt no one would comment on her status. As long as there was a crowd present, no one bothered with glaring at her or presenting themselves with sarcastic respect. It was a safe place.

"Would you like to talk, Hinata-sama?"

"No," she sniffed, "thank you for-for taking me here, Ko-san."

"I'm always at your service," he said with a gentle smile. It was one of the many things Hinata learned to appreciate in him.

Once they reached the bustling marketplace, they noticed a larger crowd than usual. Now that nearly all festivities were over, the discounts were far too good for unoccupied civilians to miss which led to tides of people swarming and shoving the smaller folks. Hinata was in no way fond of crowds but they were better than pissy Branch Cadets any day.

"Oh, can we see the flower shop?"

"Would Hinata-sama like to buy flowers?"

"No! I-I just wanted to walk...around," she finished lamely.

Ko found this amusing. "Very well, then."

As they ventured into the marketplace, a group of haggling housewives made their way between Hinata and Ko, leading the girl to be carried away to another section which she quickly recognized as the 'festival area' or something like that. She tried to activate her Byakugan to find Ko and quickly found it useless due to its short range. She didn't know the marketplace too well, so she couldn't search for the shop.

 _I should wait here, Ko-san's Byakugan can surely find me, Hinata assured herself_. As seconds ticked by and no one came for her, doubt started seeping in. _Or maybe I should go to where we started? But what if he's on his way here? But maybe his Byakugan can't see me with all these people. What if what if what if..._

Hugging her ever faithful dinosaur, Hinata called out for Ko as she frantically made way to where she last saw him. Her mother always warned her that it would do her no good to be dependent on her caretaker, but even after two years it was a bit difficult to not feel scared without him around to help her if someone wanted to hurt her. In her haste, the heiress bumped into another kid and knocked his cup of hot chocolate to the ground.

"Oi! Watch where you're going you freak!"

"I'm sorry, I-I didn't mean to!" Hinata apologized with a bow.

"Yeah? Well pick it up," the boy ordered. Hinata merely blinked as she tried to process the fact that someone was ordering her around. It was a first in her life. "Right now! I said pick it up- are you deaf or something?"

The heiress curled her lips and shook her head. _How rude_ , she thought. "Be nice and maybe someone else will do it for you."

"You think you're better than me?" he hissed, "is that it?"

"No! I said I'm sorry!"

"Tch. what a _freak_." with that, the boy stalked off and the heiress didn't hesitate to bolt from the area. She had forgotten how rude other kids could be.

As she hurried away, Hinata pondered on the boy's words, _'you think you're better than me?'_ She knew her answer was a lie, for she indeed believed herself to be slightly better. Maybe that was why the Branch Cadets didn't like her.

The origin of Hinata's pride laid indirectly with her birth, something that gave her a name that equalled almost nobility amongst shinobi and an upbringing that brought all sorts of knowledge which included manners, the one thing the heiress held above nearly anything.

She would never be rude to someone who apologized for an accident. Besides, her mother always told her that she should set the example for those who were not raised with manners. Tsubaki would never allow her clanborn daughter-heiress of a noble clan to downgrade to petty squabbles.

Hinata found a playground on her way to find Ko and saw a bright haired boy playing in the sandbox (which was filled with snow) on his own. All the other kids seemed to inch away from the sandbox which prompted her to get closer and figure out why. _But I should find Ko first,_ the heiress hesitated but then convinced herself. _It couldn't hurt to say hi, no one seems like they want to play with him._

As she got closer to the sandbox, a girl and her friend made frenzied gestures from behind the boy for her to stay away. Hinata inwardly scoffed, what harm could another kid do to her? He probably only wanted a playmate.

"Um, hello," she greeted. "Would you...would you like to play?"

The blond kid checked for any people behind him and then, just to reassure himself he pointed at himself and asked, "who, me?"

Hinata nodded.

"Oh… oh, yeah!" the boy smiled. "The name's Naruto Uzumaki and I'll be Hokage one day!"

"Uh, that-that's a big dream. I'm Hinata Hyuuga, nice to meet you."

The boy stared at her for a moment before breaking the silence.

"Are you seriously gonna play with me?" Naruto asked, skeptic of a potential prank. Hinata on the other hand, was disheartened to know that he doubted her but she couldn't blame him, considering how cruel the others could be.

"Yeah, but I can't-I can't stay here too long…" she trailed off as Naruto's face fell. "So what are we doing?"

His face instantly brightened as he spoke hurriedly. "Well, I was thinking of making a snowman- I've never made one before."

"Me neither, but, um, I think it's easy."

As they gathered snow, Naruto decided to ask as many questions as he could come up with which ranged from _how old are you_ to _can we be friends._

"So how come you're not in the Academy?"

"Well my family says it isn't-it isn't, necessary yet."

"Oh! We can sit together once your family lets you!"

Five minutes later, Hinata realized that making a snowman wasn't nearly as easy as she had thought and her hands were now frozen but somehow, Naruto's hands seemed perfectly fine, it was as if he radiated a bit of warmth. But it was probably her imagination, of course.

With unsteady pulses of chakra Hinata managed to somewhat warm herself and continue molding the snow into something that at least resembled a snowman. Just as her new friend was about to wrap his scarf around their creation, the snowman's face burst into the ground with a kid standing over it.

The heiress quickly noted that this boy resembled the one who was rude to her earlier. She opened her mouth as she thought up a 'heartfelt' apology that she would retract as soon as Ko found her but Naruto beat her to it and yelled at him.

"What did we do to you?"

"Shove it," the boy pushed Naruto aside and grabbed Hinata's arm. "You're coming with us so you can apologize."

"No!" she hissed. "Let me go!"

"You heard her, let her go!" The orange clad boy demanded as he threw himself on the larger boy. Hinata tried to mediate and stop the fight which resulted in the larger boy ending up with a useless arm and her being slapped away.

The scuffle continued for a while until Hinata scared him away with an activated Byakugan ( _"what a creep!"_ ) but her new friend wasn't in good condition after the ordeal. She offered to have Ko look at his wounds, but it only seemed to frighten him into saying that he had to go, though not before making her promise to play again with him another day. The heiress waved goodbye as Naruto rushed away into the crowd and Ko frantically made his way to her.

"Hinata-sama! Are you alright, has anyone bothered you?"

The heiress looked up with bright bubble-like eyes and a smile as she held her hands behind her back, "not at all! I think I made a new friend."

oOo

Weeks later, Tsubaki was sighing in disappointment. _Curse the doctors who ordered_ 'absolute peace' _that's bullshit!_ "Again."

"Yes, Hahaue."

And so, our favorite heiress was sparring with a clone since her mother was not allowed to do anything stressful during the pregnancy. It wasn't difficult per se, just a bit strange to fight something that did not counter her attacks with Gentle Fist and more specifically, dodged everything. Her mother probably wanted her to improve her offense, she supposed.

The clone was able to keep up with her pace and adjusted its own to challenge, but not overtake her. She swept a leg under the clone who swiftly jumped away from her range.

"I don't care if it looks like Sasuke or Itachi or that idiotic Shisui, attack like you mean it, Chibi!"

Without taking her eyes off of the clone (Tsubaki's eyes glinted in approval), she nodded and reminded herself that it was only a clone as she ran towards it. Hinata ducked and blocked tenketsu points when it threw kicks and punches, getting close enough to shove a chakra laced palm to its stomach.

She knew the spar was over the moment the clone burst into smoke. Mannerful as always, the heiress bowed and gave a silent thank you before taking a seat beside her mother, ready to listen to her advice.

They sat in silence until Tsubaki spoke. "You're doing good, but good won't be enough if it's a man you're competing against."

"But I'm not competing with anyone, Hahaue."

"You know that Hizashi was Hiashi's twin brother, right?"

"Yes."

"Well," Tsubaki hesitated. "Do you know why he was a Branch Cadet?"

"Um, it was because he was younger, right?"

"Mhm. It's usually the firstborn who leads the clan and the second child is sent to the Branch House as a sacrifice of sorts from the Main House."

"I know that," Hinata murmured as she fiddled with her sleeve. "What does that have to do with me training?"

"I'm getting there, Chibi," the older woman sighed. "In the Hyuuga Clan, there are certain situations that can get the firstborn demoted to the Branch House. One of them would be the firstborn being unable to lead for any reason."

Not liking where the conversion was going, Hinata made no sign of acknowledging that someone was talking.

"Another, would be if the firstborn is a female. If the second child happened to be male, they won't automatically take over the title, but he would have the right to challenge the heiress."

"...oh."

"Don't worry Chibi," Tsubaki hugged her. "The Uchiha Clan will back you if the old bastards even _think_ of sealing you."

After a long pause, she forced herself to ask, "and if they try to do it anyway?"

"You'll marry into leadership of the Uchiha Clan, Itachi agreed to take care of you if necessary," she whispered. "But before we consider that option, I thought of something else."

Hinata didn't even want to know.


	11. Chapter 10

**I know it's a bit late, but I'm sorry to say that I have had zero motivation to edit the last chapter during this week and I have an actual excuse this time, but I don't want to bore you guys with the troubles of my life. I feel kinda bumbed out by so few comments for the last chapter, but I understand that it awfully written so no hard feelings!**

 **Guest: Getting adopted by Mikoto? Hmmmm at this point she's practically part of that family already and worry about her improving, I'm terrible at pacing so you can expect plenty of badass moments from her at any point of the story xD. I agree with you, that Hinata needs to be a bit more prideful because she deserves it. I'm really into psychology, so once I thought about Hinata's backstory, I can see where her anxiety and confidence issues came from but seeing who she was raised around, I know for a fact that at least a small part of her really does pride herself in being born into the Main House, especially when it looks like she thinks it's the only good thing about her considering how low she believes her skills are.**

 **Sara: I'm honored:) This week was really really bad for me starting on saterday, but luckily I wrote most of this chapter the day before and today I finally got my lazy self to finish it and upload it. I know it was Iruka who didn't judge Naruto in the beginning, but I always thought that he could use someone his age as a friend, so he wouldn't feel left out by his peers. When I was younger I know I would've wanted that, so I thought it was something nice to add. Thank you for your review!**

 **LB Cat: Phew, sometimes I'm scared that I'm taking someone's idea without knowing xD I'm glad I've been doing a good job at avoiding that so far! I'm feeling well now and hopefully I won't have any reason next week to procrasinate**

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 _"Ask your father to teach you fuinjutsu."_

Hinata knew what her mother actually meant by saying that some time ago, but she couldn't bring herself to ask her father when Neji stuck to her side nearly all the time in the name of her safety. He was nice enough to even teach her some of the more advanced katas so she could impress her parents with everything she has picked up from him. It felt like betrayal to even think of associating herself with that seal any further, but she didn't want to be sealed either.

"Hinata-sama, would you like to take a break?"

She shook her head, "I haven't gotten this down, but you-you should rest if you want."

Neji looked scandalized at the notion. "I can wait, I'll help you!"

"But-"

"-No buts, how can I help?"

Hinata herself also looked scandalized. "You need to take a break!"

Neji scoffed, "what type of guardian would I be if I can't assist you?"

She hesitated before sharing her embarrassing lack of comprehension. "Chichiue wants me to-to reduce the amount of hand seals I use, but, um...I don't really get how."

"Then I'll explain everything again," he huffed and sat crossed legged facing her. "The Byakugan and its user are two seperate entities, okay?"

Hinata nodded.

"If it feels like its user in danger it will activate on its own, but normally, you will need to perform twelve hand seals to activate it. The more you train with your Byakugan, the less hand seals you will need," the heiress nodded again, the last she wanted was to make Neji think she wasn't paying attention. "I had to learn to meditate before being able to reduce the number of hand seals I need."

 _Maybe this isn't as difficult as I thought,_ she hoped. "Okay, so how do I do that?"

"Well, you're in the wrong place to begin with, let's go somewhere you're comfortable at," he suggested.

Hinata thought about that for a moment before taking Neji's offered hand and led him to her personal library. It wasn't grand, but Tsubaki and Hiashi decided to go on a bit of a shopping spree in a bookstore which resulted in Hinata's very own mini library since they didn't know where to put so many books and scrolls. It became her favorite place in the compound, something that was obvious to anyone to peered inside and noticed the futon and pile of blankets in the corner.

 _Who knew Hinata-sama had such a collection,_ he thought in amazement, eager to to look over the titles as he made his way in.

"What now?" she asked, snapping Neji out of his surprised reverie.

"Oh-well, just get comfortable, but don't slouch," he instructed. "It's really more of a breathing exercise. Just close your eyes and count your breaths, you can repeat a word in your mind if it helps."

"Sounds easy," Hinata said with her eyes already closed as Neji hid a smirk behind his hand.

"I don't know about that," he countered.

It was a matter of minutes before the heiress had to concede that it was indeed difficult to grasp the subject. What exactly was she supposed to focus on? It didn't make sense to count her breaths after hitting the one-hundred mark. Once she opened her eyes, Hinata found herself frowning at her cousin's amused face.

"Say, Neji-nii-san?"

"Yes?" his smile grew wider.

"How is this supposed to help," she complained and to avoid stuttering, decided against adding anything else to the fuss.

He seemed very amused and it irked Hinata to no end. It reminded her of Itachi and his well hidden superiority complex (though she had to admit it was part of what made him such a successful agent). "Focus on your other senses, like when we play tag with Tsubaki-sama. This is meant to reduce your dependence on the Byakugan and prompt it to improve with you."

"Really?" Hinata nearly snorted.

"Yes, Hinata-sama."

Casting a suspicious look upon her Hyuuga cousin, she gave a grudging nod and tried again. It took her a moment to realize that this time it wasn't as aggravating as the last, she entertained herself with being aware of many chakra signatures coming and going outside the mini library. Hinata followed around Natsu's chakra signature as she ventured further away from the library until she passed more than nine meters. It soon got boring for the heiress who didn't know most of the signatures walking by.

She broke the silence again and asked, "will this really help me?"

"Why do you ask, Hinata-sama?"

"I don't know…" she trailed off. "It just doesn't feel like-like I'm doing anything."

This, Neji translated as _'I feel useless sitting around'_ and quickly defended his favorite pastime. "Think of this as raising your awareness and giving your eyes a break."

Hinata shrugged dejectedly, trying to activate her Byakugan with only ten hand seals and failing miserably. "Maybe it's just me who can't do this right."

"No, it's just that this isn't for everyone. You'll get it eventually, if you practice."

"But Chichiue wanted me to do this by next week," she mumbled as eyes became more glassy than usual. "I-I don't want to...I don't want to disappoint anyone."

Socially inept as ever, Neji sat beside her and awkwardly patted her shoulder. "Don't worry, Hinata-sama, it's just a matter of practice. We can ask the older kids or Ko for help, if you want." but all the heiress heard were her mother's words still ringing in her ears.

 _"He would have the right to challenge the heiress."_

She didn't wish to be forced into servitude like Neji. Like Hizashi. Like Natsu. Like every last Branch Cadet in the clan, but it was getting harder and harder as she started losing to the opponents that the council picked out for her. Her mother's words never stopped ringing.

 _"He would have the right to challenge the heiress."_

Hinata knew she wasn't a genius when it came to taijutsu and all her skill with shurikenjutsu meant nothing to the council, it felt as if her would lose her breath with only thinking of the possibility. Though she couldn't bring herself to hate her unborn sibling, it didn't mean that she didn't fear the child. There was not a moment that she stopped hoping and praying that it wouldn't be a boy.

 _"He would have the right to challenge the heiress."_

Neji looked at his weeping cousin and hugged her. "What's wrong? Did I say something?"

"No," she said quietly. "Hahaue said I might be sealed."

"No you wouldn't, you're Hyuuga-sama's firstborn," he tried to comfort.

"If Hahaue has-if it's a boy, he-he can challenge me."

Neji was at a loss. "Oh. well, the Uchiha Clan can always take you in, right?"

"But I don't want to leave Hahaue, and you, and Ko, and-and Natsu!"

"Oh…" he quickly scanned his mind for any possible solutions. "Maybe you're worrying over nothing, it could be a girl."

Hinata sniffed and Neji quickly handed her a handkerchief. "Yeah… yeah, maybe it's a girl!"

oOo

To Hinata's great pleasure and distraction, she was allowed to tag along with Itachi when he dropped off Sasuke at the Academy. As per usual, he held Hinata's hand in his own while his younger brother decided that he was too old for that. In an effort to distract herself, she asked about Sasuke's experience at the Academy so far.

She regretted not being able to express amusement while he was present.

"And then those crazy girls nearly ripped my shirt!" Sasuke finished his tale with a scowl befitting of his clan. Hinata bit her tongue as to not laugh, but his elder brother had no such reservations.

"Perhaps you should give up on a career as a shinobi and dedicate yourself to escape arts," the older Uchiha jabbed with a straight face. Hinata did laugh at this, despite Sasuke's look that clearly said _'you traitor!'_

"Shut up, Nii-san!"

As soon as Hinata regained her composure she jumped to her friend's defense. "Yeah! don't bully him, Itachi-san."

Said boy promised a piggyback ride to make up for it, but Hinata didn't miss his aversion to vowing anything about not bullying Sasuke. It seemed that as matters between the Uchiha Clan and the village got better, Itachi on the other hand became more and more eccentric around his close family and Hinata didn't know whether she should be happy for him or concerned. Tsubaki once said it perfectly normal for someone his age, so she didn't dwell on it.

"Sometimes I think you're starting to act like Shisui," Sasuke grumbled.

"Speaking of Shisui, is he off on a mission?" the heiress asked. Now that she thought about it, it was strange for the older boy to miss out on messing with his younger cousins.

"Yes, but he should have been back by now," Itachi said as Hinata's fell with worry, prompting him to add, "he's a good shinobi, I'm sure it's just the weather holding him back."

Gullible as ever, the heiress readily accepted the excuse. "That's good to hear!"

"Aren't you going to say anything about _my_ problem?" Sasuke prodded.

"Oh yes...um, I'm sorry about that. Maybe-maybe they will grow bored of you later," Hinata stammered out since there wasn't much to say but plenty to laugh about. "How about you, Itachi-san?"

He raised a brow, "what about me?"

"You had the same problem, right?"

He nodded slowly, unwilling to share his humiliation during his Academy days. To this very day he still felt shivers when he remembered the hungry glint in the eyes of those hounds.

"How did you get rid of the girls?" Hinata asked with large bubble-like eyes looking up at him.

Itachi quietly cursed her curious eyes and reluctantly answered, "I didn't. They still haunt me when I'm in the village." Sasuke felt downright terrified at the prospect of dealing with fangirls for the rest of his life.

Hinata, on the other hand, was more optimistic. "Maybe they'll leave you guys alone once you get married."

The brothers glanced at each other before saying simultaneously, "nah."

"Why must you have so-so little faith?" the heiress huffed.

"Why are you so optimistic?" Sasuke countered. "You don't know them, they're crazy!"

"I think you two are sexist."

Itachi found this highly entertaining. "When did you learn that word, Hinata-san?"

She felt her face heat up but stood her ground. "I-I already knew that word, but I think it fits you both. Those girls can't pos-possibly be as bad as you say."

"You've no idea," Sasuke insisted as they reached the Academy gates.

"Sure," she rolled her eyes. "See you later."

"Goodbye, Otouto."

Sasuke waved at the two before sneaking in the Academy by the shadows. Turning around, Hinata burst out with laughter. Her cousins were ridiculous, though some showed it more than others.

"Say, Itachi-san?"

"Hm?"

"So was it some civilian girls?"

As if recalling a happy memory, a smile tugged at the corner of his mouth, "one civilian and one clanborn girl, a Yamanaka if I'm not mistaken."

"I thought they were more…" Hinata trailed off, not knowing how to put it. "Um, more like us. Our families would never let us do that." Suddenly an image of her clansmen having petty squabbles over something that was probably not important came to mind. It was fun to imagine the council's reaction.

"No, not since their line declined, but I must say," he replied amused. "That Yamanaka girl has a bizarre taste in boys if she's competing for Otouto."

"Not as strange as Hahaue's taste in-" she cut herself off.

"I think I know what you speak of, but I don't know if I should be offended or amused by your disgust in the idea."

"I-I'm sorry," she bowed her head. "I just don't want to bother anyone because of...of my incompetence."

 _When did she develop such an advanced vocabulary?_

Itachi shrugged, "well if the situation requires it, I have no problems with taking you in. You're family, Hinata-san"

She smiled and nodded glumly, "thank you-"

"Oi teme!" a loud voice called out after they had taken a few steps away from the gate. "Who're you hiding from?"

As soon as Hinata turned around, recognition flooded her eyes. "Uzumaki!"

"...you know him?" Itachi asked, though it appeared to be more to himself.

Sasuke, on the other hand, bolted out of Academy grounds and hid behind his brother who made no move to leave him unprotected when all heads turned to him. "Shut up! Go away!" the younger Uchiha hissed as Naruto made his way closer.

"Wait, is that Hinata-chan?" The blond kid disregarded his angry classmate to greet his friend. "You never told me you two were related!"

Sasuke's jaw dropped as his eyes went from Hinata to Naruto. "You know him?"

"I didn't know you were friends...sorry, Uzu-" both boys glared for different reasons and she quickly corrected. "Erm, I apologize, Naruto...kun?"

"Yeah, that works!"

"We're not friends!"

 _For the love of Kami-_ Itachi nearly facepalmed.


	12. Chapter 11

**I'm still alive! Also, I'm thinking that I should change the update day to Thursday because there's an activity I like to attend every Friday and it's just not working with my writing schedule. Shout out to LB Cat who somehow hasn't given up on my crappy attempts at writing!**

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Soon came March and the eager Hyuuga Clan patiently awaited the arrival of what could possibly be their new heir. All talk about the heiress and her gender became popular again as her victory during spars continually declined. No one but Tsubaki and those close to her daughter heard the girl who cried for her suddenly waning vision. The Matriarch decided it was a matter that could not get out of their circle and the topic was hushed until it became nothing but speculations.

It is only a matter of time, the clan said, before the heiress is replaced by someone competent.

As time passed, Tsubaki's nerves were frayed and she granted no mercy to anyone who dared speak ill of the tiny heiress in her presence. She took it upon herself to begin instructing Hinata in the most basic of concepts of fuinjutsu, but realized it was a fruitless endeavor to attempt to teach the subject to someone that young. Needless to say, when word got out, the clan was shocked that an outsider was taught how to activate the cursed seal and those of the lower branch felt their blood boil as never before, though Neji and Natsu chose to remain faithful to Hinata.

Hinata's popularity suffered greatly amongst those who don't come in contact with her which led to younger Branch Cadets doing what they could to give her a hard time without appearing to do so purposefully. The Matriarch realised that her methods would only give them more of a reason to be angry at her daughter so she took to keeping her within the safety of the Uchiha Clan as often as possible to spare her of the Hyuuga's vicious rumor mill.

While Sasuke didn't complain about having his friend sleep over often, Itachi, as the one who most often spent time with his younger kin, began noticing irregularities in the Hyuuga's firstborn as soon as he was forced to spend time her.

For one, she stopped throwing kunais whenever she had the opportunity to practice and her movements gradually became more and more sloppy. Being the genius that he was, he concluded that her vision was declining, though she always denied it when asked.

Seeing that speaking to Hinata was going nowhere, Itachi spoke to his mother who was enraged with the rumored ongoings of the Hyuuga Clan's Branch House. She never believed their hatred would extend to the point that the eyes of a girl who has never seen war would feel the need to activate a bloodline that may not even exist in her DNA.

"What is going on in that place, Tsubaki?"

All Tsubaki said to appease her Uchiha kin was, "everything is under control."

"Like hell it is!" Mikoto hissed. "Hinata's eyes want to activate the Sharingan-if she doesn't possess it, you know what will happen to her sight!"

"I know," Tsubaki shifted uncomfortably. "That's why I want you to take care of her. She's happy with you and your family."

The Uchiha Matriarch sighed, "rest assured that nothing bad will happen to her under my care."

"Thank you," Tsubaki murmured without a hint of her trademark arrogance.

oOo

Eventually, on March 27th, the bane of Hinata's existence was born. She was waiting in her library with Neji, distracting herself in textbooks and scrolls that she couldn't really see anymore from the news of the second child when she felt the thuds of someone's feet hit the wooden floor in a hurry. Her shoulders went stiff as the screen was pulled open without announcement to reveal a wheezing Natsu.

"Pardon the," she took a few breaths, "the interruption, Hinata-sama. I'm glad to report that the baby and Tsubaki-sama have faced no complications. You can go meet them now."

In a fearful daze, the heiress nodded and dropped a crumpled scroll as she stumbled through the halls of the compound with Neji at her heels. For a moment she thought the world went red before regaining her footing and scampering to the medical wing of the compound, ignoring the sneers and bows that came her way. Her cousin shot nasty glares at the disrespectful Hyuugas as he followed Hinata, always one step behind.

Without bothering with formalities, she swung open the screen like Natsu had done moments ago and found her mother looking down with a downcast look at the bundle in her arms. The lack of welcome from the Hyuuga Matriarch made Neji unwilling to announce himself while Hinata paused for a moment before deciding to intrude on the sorrowful scene of mother and child.

"Hahaue?"

Snapped out of her reverie, Tsubaki whipped her head to the newcomers with a surprised smile as her gaze focused on Hinata. "Chibi, Neji, it's a…" she trailed off in disbelief as her gaze landed on Hinata. "girl…"

"It's a girl?" both Hinata and Neji asked with beaming bubble eyes, inching closer to the bundle.

"That's right," she spoke now with a slightly more cheerful tone. "But tell me, you two, when exactly were you planning on telling me my daughter has not one, but two Doujutsu?"

Neji and Hinata blinked simultaneously without understanding. The Hyuuga boy stepped forward and took a look at Hinata's face before his eyes lit up like Tsubaki's. "Hinata-sama! Your eyes are red!"

But the heiress didn't hear a word he said as she took in the appearance of her sister. To put it in a few words, her aspect wasn't too flattering, but Hinata could suddenly find it in herself to appreciate a younger sibling when it wasn't going to threaten her position in the clan.

"Ah, she's pretty, right?" Tsubaki whispered.

Since Hinata ignored her, Neji nodded mutely, but inwardly said the contrary. Unlike the majority of the Branch Cadets, he wasn't foolish enough to provoke the wrath of that woman. This is the mark of another genius.

"What's her name, Hahaue?"

Tsubaki shrugged, "does it matter?"

"Of course it matters, Tsubaki-sama!" Neji exclaimed.

"Didn't I tell you to drop the title, you brat?"

"You did, Tsubaki-sama. I just don't want to." Perhaps not as brilliant as stated earlier.

"Hmph. Well I still remember that you were scared of fireworks during the festival."

"So what?"

"I've decided," Tsubaki announced. "Her name will be Hanabi."

Hinata snorted as Neji spluttered, "fireworks? That's not fair, you're not actually going to call her that, are you?"

"Oh yes," she snickered. "Her name will be Hanabi. Deal with it."

oOo

It was amusing to see half of the people in the compound look sad and dejected while others appeared to be jumping for joy. What was the cause of this, you may be asking and I will tell you. As mentioned before, the people of the Hyuuga Clan are very fond of gossip and to an extent, gambling. Many members of this noble clan lost quite the sum of money on a foolish bet: the gender of the second child.

Unbeknownst to them, it was the Matriarch who was responsible for instigating the bets and claiming a portion of all the money as a fee for participating. No one dared to say a word as the gleeful Uchiha woman and made her way across the compound with her daughter and a hefty stack of money in every pocket of her attire (visible and hidden) and left to make a visit in the Bank of Konohagakure to what they suspected was Hinata Hyuuga's vault.

No one could deny that the irony of the situation was amusing to those who weren't cursing themselves for unknowingly giving a portion of their fortune to the infamous heiress of the noble and most ancient Hyuuga Clan.

As they left the bank Hinata asked, "so, um, what do I tell Chichiue?"

"About what, the money? Because it belongs to you, not the clan." Tsubaki questioned.

"No,it's about my eyes."

"Oh. let's not tell him, we should wait until the Chuunin Exams," she smiled as she daydreamed the notion. "But we really should get your eyes checked out just in case it's bad for you."

"I can see everything now, I think it's okay."

Tsubaki shook her head. "It's just that there is something off about them. I wasn't aware that you would inherit both bloodlines in both eyes. I wonder if it means that you can only use one bloodline at a time, it's something I should read on, just in case."

"Alright, Hahaue. I trust you."

* * *

 **Surprise! I really didn't want to have her activate the Sharingan at that age, but I think the stress fit for that even if I wasn't able to write well enough to convey that stress. Just to be clear, it wasn't Hanabi herself that prompted the activation, it was the fear of her arrival that caused it. Sorry for the delay!**


	13. Chapter 12

**Happy Thursday everyone!**

 **Marihimesama: Thank you so much for the concern and your support! I'm still not feeling that much better, but I think it's just that I'm a bit sleep deprived and anxious. As everyone says, practice makes perfect so I'll do my best to keep up with this :)**

 **Guest: I'm always glad to contribute something to the Fandom and improve my writing on the way!**

 **LB Cat: I don't know how funny I am, but I try to think of something. I've been feeling down so what I need is a cute and fluffy fic, I hope I've been doing an okay job so far. Thank you for taking the time to write nice reviews!**

* * *

It was only a matter of time before Hinata crumbled to the cuteness of Hanabi, much to Sasuke's displeasure. First it was his brother, then Shisui, and now that girl- it seemed as if the world wanted Hinata to ignore him in favor of someone else and he did not appreciate it.

On the bright side, two years later as soon as she turned seven (and when the Academy took a turn to shinobi training), Hinata was finally allowed to attend with him, much to Hanabi's displeasure this time. Natsu, the secondborn's caretaker, swore that her first word was her elder sister's name, something that pleased Hinata to no end.

It was surprising to see her wearing something other than traditional clothes or a plain training suit when the heiress made her appearance in the Academy. Tsubaki decided that if her clanborn daughter was to study elsewhere, she should be dressed as well as possible without interfering with her ability to spar which led to her going on yet another shopping spree. By the end of that day, Hinata was sporting a pastel yellow hoodie (and let's not forget the Hyuuga emblem) and white shorts.

Contrary to what Itachi and Shisui feared, the fangirls made no move to antagonize the heiress, but rather befriended and brainwashed their poor Hyuuga cousin, according to Sasuke. This resulted in a bit of a strain in their friendship, but they would pull through...somehow.

"They're really nice girls! I don't see why you must treat them in such a manner," Hinata said disdainfully. "Perhaps if you gave them a chance, they could be your friends too."

"You really don't understand," Sasuke retorted. "They _stalk_ us!"

The heiress scoffed at the notion. "No they don't, I would notice since we always sit together."

"But they do-!"

"-drop it, Otouto, you can't force her to see her friends downgraded," Itachi sighed as a few heads hid behind a bush on the other side of the sidewalk.

After some minutes of silence Sasuke decided to ask, "how come you only give _me_ a hard time, but not Nii-san when he rejects them too?"

"Itachi's polite about it," Hinata muttered as the trio reached the marketplace.

 _Has she been converted by Nii-san's fangirls?_ Sasuke fearfully questioned himself, thinking of all the occasions that could've led to Hinata speaking to the girls in the graduating class.

"So what's on the list?" she interrupted his thoughts.

"Let's see," the older boy recalled withouting bothering to pull out the shopping list. "We need to get rice, tomatoes, bread, dangos-"

"Was it you who added those, Nii-san?"

"Of course not, and we also need to get new flowers for our mother."

"Great," Sasuke grumbled as the other two continued walking without him. "Flower shop."

"What was that, Sasuke?" the heiress glanced back without letting go of her escort's hand.

He bit his tongue and shook his head before hurrying to his brother's side. "Let's go to Tsunemori-san's for the rice." Hinata and Itachi exchanged questioning looks at the younger Uchiha's request. "What? It's better."

It was common knowledge that Tsunemori's shop was very close to Naruto Uzumaki's flat and Sasuke's blatant concern for the jinchuriki was disconcerting. Even if he pretended to not get along with the blond, his family knew it to be a lie.

"Well," Hinata hummed, "since we would be close, I believe we owe Naruto-kun a visit after we're done."

"Oh. Yes," Sasuke said casually. "We can escort you , right Nii-san?"

"That's right," he confirmed with a knowing smile. It made him happy to know that his brother had more friends than just Hinata, who in her infinite sweetness couldn't really have the rivalry his brother pursued due to her self-sacrificing nature. Let's not even mention how Hinata could currently wipe the floor with his brother if it were a taijutsu only spar if she pleased (but she didn't).

To make things fair, there was something his brother could best her in. Sasuke's seemingly seasoned ease with shurikenjutsu since the moment he was allowed to practice with weapons led Itachi to believe that Hinata had successfully lied straight to his and Mikoto's face about not letting her playmate use her kunai and shurikens. Considering that all of his brother's fingers were still intact after spending time with their cousin, he decided to not mention her false promise and stuck to polishing Sasuke's ability which currently rivaled hers.

 _Tsubaki created one hell of a politician right there,_ he thought with amusement.

oOo

Once all on the list was bought and Sasuke was convinced that they were only joking when they mentioned the flower shop, the trio headed to visit Naruto's pigsty. There were loud voices coming from the upper floor, but Itachi chalked it down to a petty argument of sorts. As soon as they reached the corridor, it became apparent that something bigger was going on.

Before Naruto's door, a mob of people were muttering amongst themselves and none seemed to be in a good mood. Hinata dearly hoped it was a mistake on their part, for things weren't looking well for her blond friend if he dared to step out.

"Excuse me," Itachi interrupted with the nerve Hinata envied. "But could anyone please tell us what is going on?"

All heads turned to the group with seething expressions and the heiress was sure she heard some mutter _'Clan kids'_ with spite reminiscent of that of the Branch Cadets. Almost instinctively, the Uchihas took a step forward as a barrier between the mob and their cousin. Hinata didn't know if she should feel offended or flattered.

"What business does the daughter of the Hyuuga Clan have with the demon?" an older man asked as the crowd made way for him.

Without budging an inch, the heir tilted his head in contempt. "What business do you have with the savior of this village?"

Hinata and Sasuke looked at each other in confusion as they processed the pronoun used for their blond friend. They've heard plenty of nicknames meant for Naruto and she even used her position as leverage to keep those down, but they were nothing like Itachi suggested.

"The brat stole a mask from my stand."

"No I didn't! I found it in the trash! I swear!" claimed a muffled voice from the other side of the door.

"You idiot!" Sasuke exclaimed. "Why didn't you say that before?"

"I did," Naruto said dejectedly. "They won't listen."

"You filthy demon!" a woman in the crowd hissed. "Who would believe that?"

"So you're telling us that you have cornered a child because he was forced to pick through your leftover trinkets because you won't let him around his own village?" Itachi questioned with a raised brow.

No dared to say the contrary.

The man said nothing and the crowd collectively dispersed as if they were just passing by, though no one forgot to at least give a nod to Hinata who was the equivalent of royalty as the future head of a noble clan.

"Um, Naruto-kun?" Hinata drew closer to the door. "You can open the door now."

oOo

Though Itachi didn't say or show anything that showed his thoughts, Hinata was quite sure he was thinking exactly what she and Sasuke were thinking: _This must be the epicenter of a horrible disaster._

"So what brings you guys here?" Naruto asked as he rushed around his messy flat to find any ramen to offer his guests.

"Don't worry about that, Naruto-san," the heir said. "We should go."

"No!" the blond nearly screamed. "Uh, I mean, I…"

Sasuke sighed, "Nii-san just wanted to invite you to Ichiraku's, we're not leaving."

"Oh." Naruto could only scratch the back of his head in embarrassment. Despite seeming oblivious, he was well aware of who exactly were his friends, but he comforted himself in knowing that they would never hurt him. "Yeah! Can I have the biggest bowl?"

Itachi smiled, "of course."

"Wait-no! I want a rematch with Hinata-chan!" Naruto declared.

The heiress tilted her head in confusion and pointed at herself before asking in disbelief, "me?"

"Yeah, you're the one who managed to eat more bowls than anyone here!" the blond recalled. This was yet another fact that Itachi wasn't able to live down: his seven year old cousin managed to eat many more bowls of ramen than him in the competition Naruto wanted to win. The fact that he was five, nearly six years her senior did not make it any easier for him, though she wasn't able to win the prize (unlimited ramen for a month) for the blond.

"Why don't we save that rematch for later, you must be starving," he said as he looked over a carton of spoiled milk and a pile of empty ramen noodle cups.

"But don't you dare make another mess," Sasuke huffed.

"Ha! Don't worry, I'd never ruin Hinata-chan's clothes," he assured, then his tone went dark. "But you…"

Hinata clasped her hands together loudly with a bright and menacing smile. "We should get going, fighting makes a sour lunch."

Her agemates gulped and nodded, zooming to the door and away from Hinata. She could've sworn one of them challenged the other to a race as they made their way to free lunch.

"Good work, Hinata," her other cousin patted her head. "But please be kind to my funds."

She quickly felt the heat rise to her face as she stammered out, "I-I wasn't to...I wouldn't waste your earnings…"


	14. Chapter 13

**On a sad note, before I even get to what I wanted to say, I know that for me reading is like an escape from unpleasant situations in the real world and maybe it's the same for you guys, so I'm sorry if I make you feel uncomfortable. As you probably know already the Coronavirus issue is getting a bit troubling in the US and unfortunately, two cases have been reported within my county along with a few others in my state. I'm not too worried about myself since I'm young, but I'm concerned about my family and everyone else. I'm giving you guys a heads up, if I stop updating out of nowhere, it's probably because the power went out and I don't think anyone would be willing to fix it. Despite our president's behavior, I trust that the rest of the government will act accordingly and prevent too much of a problem. I pray that we and the rest of the world won't suffer any more than what we have (and I'm really sorry if I offended anyone! It's not intention, believe me)**

 **On a less depressing note, I'm happy to say that I'll probably have more time to write in the following weeks! Also, my tumblr is nathalieneedsaraise if anyone is interested in scrolling through a bunch of fanart and stuff**

 **Guest: Here's the fireball for ya! I was planning for this for a while and you just commented at the right moment. I'm glad you like their interactions because I'm awful at writting scenes with multiple characters. I agree with you, I think Gentle Fist sucks when it is purely close range stuff and the entire shinobi world is amazing at long distance. I just checked out a book today on martial arts (which I do not plan on returning for a good while) since I was thinking that Hyuugas could do with more footwork considering that they would be able to create chakra needles from literally any point in their body.**

 **LB Cat: I hope you're doing well too! Thank you for encouraging me all the way:) I hope I'll be able to up my work one day so I can actually earn so many nice comments!**

* * *

"Thanks, Nii-san," Naruto said between slurps of ramen. "We should do this more often."

"He's _my_ brother, not yours," Sasuke hissed from the other end of the table.

Hinata sighed with narrowed eyes as she collected the most appetizing looking parts of her meal to the side. She couldn't even sit with her friends wherever she pleased, no-she always had to act a buffer between them and today it was Itachi's turn to share her fate. He took the middle seat with Sasuke on one side and Hinata and Naruto on the other.

"Don't listen to him, Naruto-san," Itachi sighed. "Perhaps if all three of you manage a decent score on the upcoming test, I'll treat you again."

The blond dramatically fell over and posed in distress. "But you know I suck at the leaf exercise!"

"Wasn't Hinata helping you?" the younger Uchiha boy questioned.

"Well," Naruto grinned sheepishly. "She did try, I just don't get it."

"Would you like to practice with me?" the heir offered.

His eyes lit up and he quickly jumped to answer, "yeah! Of course, can we do it right now?"

The heiress tilted her head in confusion. "I thought you were busy after this, Itachi-san."

Said boy could only curse himself as his cousin's eyes went bright with happiness. If life were different for her, he doubted that she would be as attached to her Uchiha cousins as she was. The only comfort he could offer her was temporary extraction from the Hyuuga Clan and even then, she always seemed a bit lethargic despite claiming to rest well.

"Yes, I…" he hesitated. "I was called off."

"Finally!" Sasuke celebrated. "They never let you train with me!"

Naruto then asked, "but where? I don't think my place is gonna cut it..."

Hinata quickly finished her ramen before hurrying to grab Itachi's sleeve. "The third training field, Ko said it-it's a good place."

oOo

It was indeed a nice place, considering that the student trio did not need to go far to find leaves for the exercise and available space to concentrate. But it didn't save the poor heir's nerves from suffering his destiny as the eternal babysitter.

"Wait! Hinata, where did you find those?"

"Oh, don't-um, don't worry," she paused. "Hahaue let me have them."

Itachi pinched the bridge of his nose as he sighed, "I've always known that woman is a nut, but giving you matches?"

"It's okay," Hinata reassured. "It's an exercise for nature transfor-mations...I'm careful."

 _Sounds familiar, but..._

Unconvinced, he decided to keep an eye on her as he explained the concept of leaf sticking to Naruto and Sasuke who turned it into yet another competition, though luckily for them, Hinata was too distracted to notice.

"I bet I can stick three leaves before you," the blond challenged.

Sasuke scoffed, "keep dreaming."

Once Itachi deemed the pair ready to continue sticking as many leaves as they pleased, he focused on Hinata's form which was huddled before a small fire fuelled by twigs and surrounded by stones. Her hands hovered over the fire as they expelled bursts of chakra that seemed to manipulate the fire, but looking closer, the chakra was merely brushing the flames.

It was then that he remembered where he had seen that exercise. Unlike the other children, he had no need to get a feel of chakra manipulated fire before his first (and successful) attempt at the Uchiha's signature jutsu, but it seemed that Tsubaki made no assumptions about Hinata's capabilities with ninjutsu and provided the means to increase her chances at getting it right the first time. Itachi had the sinking feeling that his father would have no such considerations for Sasuke and mentally noted to ask Tsubaki about it.

For all her nuttiness, Tsubaki genuinely cared for Hinata and always served as a shield against the scathing opinion of the Branch Cadets, but she had the unfortunate tendency to push her daughter into learning more and more about any subject related to the shinobi career, the most recent being the new exercise which Itachi remembered most of his clanmates called tedious. Strangely enough, she seemed to enjoy it.

"Oh!" Hinata looked amazed as she fuelled the fire to grow with more chakra. Using only careful motions, she stood up and with a flick of her wrist the fire snapped up her height before falling back a moment later.

"Woah," the other two gravitated to her fire, leaves and competition forgotten.

"How'd you do that Hinata-chan?"

She gave a startled jump, "this is just practice for a-for a jutsu Hahaue wants to teach me."

"Neat!" Sasuke whispered as the flames danced around his cousin's hands. "What's that?"

Hinata shrugged, "it's nothing special, Hahaue says everyone my age should be able to do it."

Itachi's good perception of his aunt went down a bit, though he understood that she had purely good intentions. He knew that he would want to make sure that his children knew exactly how to survive in the shinobi world. But then he remembered her strategy, _Must she always make Hinata believe the tasks she sets are simple and expected of just anyone?_

"Cool! How come Iruka-sensei hasn't taught us this yet?" Naruto questioned as he tested how close he could get without burning himself.

"Oh-um, I don't… Maybe we'll learn about this later-"

"Because," Itachi helpfully diverted attention from her. "It is most certainly not something most seven year olds can do."

The heiress furrowed her brows, "yes it is."

"Is it?" Sasuke asked from the other side of the tiny fire. "You could perform our signature jutsu when you were seven."

"No, it's," he paused, unwilling to put himself above his brother. "Fire jutsus are very volatile, and we'd rather not have Uchiha children burning themselves when it is an era of relative peace."

The blond nodded sagely and complained, "how come you clan guys can already learn ninjutsu and the others in the Academy have to wait?"

"Because we're the ones who don't chicken out when we get our first C rank mission," the younger Uchiha boasted.

Hinata and Naruto, as per usual, looked to their older friend for confirmation. Not that Sasuke was an unreliable source, but he tended to be the embodiment of Uchiha pride in the worst of times, though the heiress suspected he only said those things to bug Naruto who managed to top him in the stamina exam.

"Since clans compose the majority of our military force, it's only natural that parents would wish to assure themselves that their children are well trained," the heir corrected as he put Hinata's fire out, seeing that she was no longer interested.

"How come?" the blond asked. "I thought anyone could become a shinobi if they want."

The bluenette nodded, "but civilian families prefer to not send their children to a high risk career. Only shinobi clans are willing to offer their every generation."

As the sun went down, the heir could only smile at his brother and cousin that followed him like ducklings as he made sure Naruto got safely back into his apartment. He could only hope that they would continue to be good people despite the challenges of living as shinobi.

oOo

"Is this...safe?"

"You were playing with matches just a minute ago! This is the exact same thing, Chibi!"

"Fire sticks and breathing fire myself are different," Hinata muttered.

"They're matches," Tsubaki corrected. "And I'm teaching you this because your chakra control is finally good enough for you to get this right on your first try."

"And if I don't get it right?"

The woman shrugged, "then perhaps I've been wasting my time training. Though I know for a fact that's not the case."

"Oh. Yes, of course...so how do I do this jutsu?"

"Sit with me, I should explain everything before you try," she patted the place next to her on the edge of the half bridge. "I'm not that mean, I'd never have you do anything before making sure you understand."

Hinata nearly sighed in relief. _I knew Hahaue wouldn't just make me do something like that!_

"The jutsu is called Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu (and for the newbies in the Fandom, the cool fire spitting jutsu), a signature move from our clan. It also has some history behind it," Tsubaki gushed as Hinata scooted away from the madwoman. "So back when the Uchiha Clan was more sexist than the Hyuuga Clan, being able to perform this jutsu is what made the clan recognize a boy as a man."

The heiress scrunched her nose, "I'd rather not be recognized as man by anyone."

"No-Chibi, that's not what…" Tsubaki trailed off laughing. "It just means that you're better than the others in your age group if you can perform the jutsu before they can."

This reminded Hinata of Iruka's first lecture to the class of prospect shinobi, or rather the statement that stood out to her.

 _"All shinobi are equal, it doesn't matter if you're clanborn or if you're a first generation shinobi. Ability and judgement alone will define you."_

Most of the clanborn children, herself included to some degree, scoffed at this. While she didn't exactly believe that first generation shinobi were lesser, they were not born with the heightened senses gifted by generations of selective breeding or the knowledge gifted by the hard work of honorable ancestors. Unlike her civilian classmates, she and Sasuke were born and bred for combat, it was the reason clans composed over a third of the village's forces without heavy casualties and Hinata was proud to be part of that, just like those who came before her.

Not that it would ever make her behave like a snobby brat with her peers, she was also taught to respect everyone regardless of their origins and appearance. Hinata noticed brilliant classmates like Sakura Haruno, who despite her birth, possessed an incredible amount of brute strength and a quick brain with any topic thrown her way. She was someone the heiress considered a possible equal, though her Taijutsu and behavior with Sasuke left much to be desired.

"But Iruka-sensei said…"

"Forget what he says," Tsubaki snorted. " You've no business heeding the morals of a man unable to make it past desk Chuunin."

"Yes, Hahaue."

"Good. As I was saying, this jutsu has a nature transformation involved…"

oOo

"On the count of three, blow as hard as you can, make sure you turn that chakra into fire _after_ it leaves your mouth, not before."

"Yes, Hahaue."

Tsubaki squealed and nodded, "one, two...three!"

Hinata took a deep breath and blew with closed eyes.


	15. Chapter 14

**Update, if anyone is interested. Just the next day after I updated last time it was announced that the school system had to be shut down for a while, but everyone I know is okay. I'll be honest, I was a bit lazy this week and wrote everything in two evenings, but I hope the new chapter isn't too bad.**

 **LB Cat: Congrats on giving me my 40th comment! Don't worry, I'm pretty paranoid and wash my hands really often and make my family do the same. I heard from my mom that it helps to gargle with warm water and vinegar to kill viruses and stuff. I don't know how true it is, but it makes me feel a bit feel a bit better.**

 **By the way, does anyone see a line break here? I notice that they don't always appear when I upload**

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As per Tsubaki's expectations, Hinata did not fail to exhale fire across the lake, though it was rather shapeless instead of the round shape it was supposed to take. The proud mother could only applaud her daughter's analytical mind and the way she managed to dissect the jutsu in only a week, but it didn't ebb the small pang of disappointment Tsubaki felt when the stream of flames vanished in a mere ten seconds.

"Was-was that okay, Hahaue?"

The Hyuuga Matriarch slowly tilted her head in consideration before saying, "it could be better, but for your first try I'd say you did very well."

Hinata let out a shaky sigh of relief at the verdict.

"Try again," Tsubaki ordered. "And don't forget to actually take a deep breath this time."

"Yes, Hahaue."

This time the stream of fire lasted a bit more, but to the mother's disappointment, it was considerably weaker than the first.

Holding in a sigh, she gave pointers, "don't hesitate-use as much chakra as you want, the hospital is very close if you reach chakra exhaustion. Oh, and you should make sure that you _spit_ the fire and don't choke in the smoke you make."

Not very convinced, but unwilling to displease her mother, Hinata once again took a deep breath and exhaled as much chakra as she could muster though she noticed not all of it came out as fire. At least her mother was patient enough to continue with giving pointers here and there.

"Don't waste breath or chakra. Again."

 _Not quite._

"Take your time with the hand seals. Again."

 _Still not there._

"Again. Watch your breathing, remember all the breathing exercises."

After regaining her breath, the heiress once again closed her eyes and slowly went through the hand seals before a thought occurred.

"Can't you do it and let me see it with my Byakugan?"

Tsubaki shook her head, "rule number one?"

"Don't depend on Dōjutsu," Hinata sighed.

"But really, I think you're doing a great job without it, Chibi. Consider this my way of teaching you to break down jutsus on your own because you won't always have the Sharingan or Byakugan to help you."

The girl only shrugged with a pout.

"Come on, Chibi! Now that I mention it, how's the progress with your eyes?"

"Still can't activate both Dōjutsus at once," she complained. "But I'll do it someday, I hope."

Tsubaki dipped her head, "I'll help you with that later, but first you must master this jutsu. Try again."

 _And again and again and again..._

And so they continued like that all morning until Hinata was breathless and close to chakra exhaustion. No amount of matches could ever prepare her for Tsuabki's idea of a 'short polishing session' which only grew longer and longer. She was starting to wish for Shisui to arrive and gallantly distract her mother while she ran off to the bakery in the district, but unfortunately for the heiress, he was probably too busy trying to catch Izumi's attention or off on a mission.

"May I rest?" Hinata asked between breaths.

"One more time," the matriarch pressed.

With sluggish movements she made the necessary hand seals and inhaled before someone slapped her back and pushed her in the lake. With a previously nonexistent motivation, she quickly swam to the surface for precious air. Up where she stood moments ago was her cousin who looked sheepishly down at her.

"Oh, hey Hina-tan," Shisui waved stiffly with a nervous laugh beside his ex teacher who looked murderous. "Fancy seeing you here…"

"I thought you were out on a mission," the older woman said dryly.

"Ha, no, I just got back yesterday. Today I was out looking around the village."

The heiress spit the lake water in her mouth in Shisui's general direction, "what type of greeting was that?"

"Sorry, I didn't expect you to not hold on," he apologized with an offered hand that his younger cousin readily took. With a small tug, she was pulled out of the water and handed over to her mother.

"It better not happen again, you twit," Tsubaki warned her nephew (who was comically much taller than her) as she wrapped Hinata in her hakama.

Shisui saluted her solemnly, "yes ma'am."

"You owe me a trip to the bakery, right Hahaue?" Hinata snickered now in the safety of her mother's arms.

"Indeed," she joined in. "Maybe you should invite Itachi too, I remember he's fond of sweets as well."

He looked horrified at the notion, "no! I refuse! Those two will leave me bankrupt if I ever pay for everything they eat in that place!"

"Well," the matriarch said as she started heading away. "We're off to steal Sasuke's clothes, if you wish to join us."

The Uchiha boy grinned, "I think I'll steal Sasuke's food. No one can beat Aunt Mikoto's cooking."

"True," the mother and daughter agreed simultaneously.

After a few moments of silence Hinata was reminded of an upcoming event. "Say, Shisui?"

"Hm?"

"Have you thought of anything for Itachi's birthday?"

"Oh yes," he smirked deviously. "I've been planning this for years."

This caught his aunt's attention. "And what would that be?"

"Just some books, Auntie."

Tsubaki curled her lips in distaste, "it better not be what I think it is."

"What is it, Hahaue?"

"Nothing you, Itachi and Sasuke or," she grabbed Shisui's ear, " _you_ should concern yourselves with."

"It's fine literature, I tell you!" he exclaimed. "Besides, you want people to think you're related to a hermit, right?"

The matriarch laughed and shook her head, "let him live at his own pace. I can assure you, your favorite cousin will not remain without a girl in his life past fifteen, mark my words."

"I bet my weapon stash, he won't."

"Hm, I bet my scrolls that he will."

Later on in the future, Tsubaki would be devastated to lose the bet when her sixteen year old nephew went without showing an interest in anything with two X chromosomes aside from the one in his nuclear family with the exception of Hinata (who didn't count at the moment), but that's another story.

Without bothering to knock once they reached Mikoto's house, the Hyuuga Matriarch pushed open the front door and left Hinata and Shisui in the kitchen while she looked around for anything suitable for her daughter to wear.

"Can you pass me the cookies?"

Shisui touched his chin and hummed, "only if you share with me."

The soaked heiress promptly complied and was happily munching on her cookies by the time Tsubaki came back with a spare yukata and the Uchiha Matriarch in tow. The pair in the kitchen innocently waved at the women as they pushed the cookie jar behind their backs.

"Oh, she really did take a fall," Mikoto looked surprised as she took in the appearance of Hinata who was shaking off any crumbs on her face.

"Well that's what I said," Tsubaki huffed. "Sometimes I feel as if you don't take your dear sister seriously."

"Nonsense," the Uchiha Matriarch waved her off. "Here Hina-tan, take the clothes and get the water running, will you?"

The heiress glanced at her mother and aunt with confusion. "I don't mind waiting till we get back to the compound."

"Don't worry about it, Sasuke hates wearing traditional clothes, you'd be doing him a favor," Mikoto reassured her. "While you clean yourself, your mother and I will be having a conversation with Shisui."

Said boy stiffened, but knew better than to bolt. It was a fact that those two could track him down to the ends of earth if they so pleased. _Scary women, scary women…_

With a shrug Hinata abandoned her now helpless cousin and made her way around her second home.

oOo

Needless to say, within the following days the heiress managed to get a better grip on the fire jutsu, but her taijutsu training took a hit. Not that it concerned Tsubaki in the slightest; she was too busy trying to figure out her daughter's eyes.

"I'm tired, Hahaue."

"Just wait a bit more, Chibi," she stated rather than asked. "Activate your Byakugan."

With slow hands she went through the seals before saying lazily, "Byakugan."

"Good, good," the matriarch clapped her hands. "Now the Sharingan."

With shaky breathing, the girl abruptly changed the flow of chakra in her left eye. She could feel it flicker between red and white for a few seconds until it settled on the comfortable flow of the Byakugan. Seeing Tsubaki's eyes fill with dismay, she tried to alter the flow again.

It was a strange experience to say the least. For a moment she was suddenly transported back to the Uchiha District where she could've sworn she saw an older version of herself and her cousins for a moment. They seemed so happy, it was a future she certainly wanted. It felt like a dream until small hands were snapping before her face.

"Oi, wake up Hinata-sama," Neji prodded. "Tsubaki-sama is worried."

Blinking owlishly at the change in orientation, Hinata could only assure him and her mother that she was perfectly fine. She was not lying, but they didn't seem to buy it and sent her straight to bed with Ko at her side in case she needed anything.

Hanabi didn't delay in dragging her caretaker, Natsu, to her beloved elder sister's room to play ninja for a bit. It was one of the few occasions that Hinata had spare time to play with her and she wasn't about to waste more time than necessary with any tutor when her sister was able to play with her. It was pointless to mention the grudge Hanabi harbored against her Uchiha cousins who did nothing but take away all of Hinata's spare time when she could be in the compound with her.

"Aneki?"

"Hm?"

Hanabi fidgeted before asking, "can I use your kunais?"

"Nope," Hinata laughed. "Maybe when you're older. We can use the wooden ones for now."

With a pout Hanabi complied and pulled out her wooden tools before jumping on Hinata's back. "Now carry me or else, um… Or else I won't play with you!"

"Oh no!" Hinata played along. "Where would you like to go Hanabi-chan?"

"Well…"

And that was all it took for Hinata to ignore the Hyuuga Clan's golden law: no Byakugan inside the compound. It was all fun and laughter until a peeved Ko and Natsu caught them and handed them over to the matriarch who was wearing a withering expression.

She didn't say a word until both of her daughters were tucked in Hinata's bed (as per Hanabi's request) and ready to sleep. "Do you realize what happened, young ladies?"

The younger girl froze and looked up to the heiress for guidance.

"I'm sorry Hahaue," Hinata jumped in immediately to Hanabi's defense. "It was all my idea."

The woman ruffled Hanabi's hair with a knowing smile. "Don't get caught next time."

"Yes Hahaue," both girls chorused.

"Good night, Chibi, Hana-chan."

As soon as their mother left, the younger girl poked Hinata's side.

No response.

"Aneki," she hissed.

"What is it, Hanabi-chan?"

"Can we go for banana ice-cream when you leave the Academy?"

With droopy lids the heiress sighed, "isn't it too early for that, how about we get you some cupcakes?"

"Ew," she scrunched her nose. "That's Itachi's thing."

Hinata was too tired to be offended so she shrugged and said, "it's my thing too, but if Hahaue lets you, we can ask Natsu and Neji-nii-san to take us."

"Okay, but promise that you will," Hanabi said with a raised pinky finger to Hinata's face. "Even if Chichiue and Hahaue make you do more training, okay?"

"You got it," the bluenette yawned.

"And no Uchihas, okay?"

"Sure- wait, no! Sasuke walks home with me, you don't mind him, do you?"

Hanabi grumbled, "just him, not another Uchiha is invited."

"Okay, okay…"

That night Hinata dreamed of an ice-cream stained sweater and fireworks.


	16. Chapter 15

**whew, I thought I wasn't going to be able to write enough today, but I pulled through! I'm not about to lose my streak at this point! Also, I'd like some feedback, I know my writing sucks so help me improve please, because there's only so much I can proofread before crying and giving up xD**

 **Guest: Thank you for sticking with me:)**

 **LB Cat: I promise there will be lots more fluff later, but this is mostly foreshadowing. We're all doing fine so far, I hope you and your family are okay too**

* * *

"Alright, you may begin," Iruka announced.

Without a moment of hesitation, everyone flipped over the sheet of paper and started scribbling what they could scrape from their mind. It was only a matter of minutes before the exasperated instructor weeded out the students who clearly had no interest in ascending to a higher grade of shinobi training, though there were various exceptions including every clanborn child in the room (and yes, including the Nara boy) and strangely enough, civilian born Sakura Haruno.

There was mostly nothing strange about the scene, the only part that seemed out of place was one Naruto Uzumaki who for once looked like he had some sort of idea on what he was doing. Iruka almost cried in relief; maybe the boy wasn't destined to fail after all.

 _Or perhaps he is,_ he nearly slammed his head on his desk as the blond started to nervously chew on his nails and conspicuously look around the room in search for answers before suddenly looking bright once more and proceeded to jot down what he recalled.

With his usual determination he thought, _I can't fail this! A delicious lunch with my friends is on the line!_

As students finished one by one, they were sent to the courtyard where they were free to eat their lunch before the second part of the exams began. Hinata, who finished minutes after her cousin, ran up to Sasuke who was already picking at his lunch. She looked at him with hopeful eyes and palms pressed together as she got closer and the Uchiha nearly groaned in annoyance.

Before letting her speak he barked, "don't even think about it."

"Please? I'm your favorite cousin, you should help me out."

Sasuke glared at her and shook his head, thinking, _nuh uh! No way!_

"Just half, okay?" Hinata pleaded.

he demanded, "what happened to _your_ bento?"

The heiress hid her hands behind her back with a sheepish grin. "I lost it."

"Sure," Sasuke muttered skeptically. "I suppose you can take some-but not all, like last time!"

The heiress hurriedly nodded and swiped half of a rice ball before her friend could blink. Her uncanny ability to gobble everything within seconds and leave no trace never ceased amaze him. It was an enviable trait both he and his brother strived to achieve in order to succeed in the noble art of food theft.

"Thanks," she gave a slight bow before taking a seat beside her cousin. "When do you think Naruto-kun will finish?"

Sasuke snorted, "you dream big if you believe he's actually going to finish."

"Well, Itachi helped us study, I don't see how he could flunk it this time," Hinata defended. "Oh! By the way, Hanabi-chan wants to eat ice-cream with us, think you could join us?"

"As long as she stops looking at me and Nii-san as if we were the bane of her existence," he spoke with annoyance.

"She doesn't mean it, Hanabi-chan is really sweet when she's your friend," the heiress gushed with a bright smile.

"Right," Sasuke nearly laughed. "Do I have permission to return anything she throws at me?"

"No," Hinata's left eye twitched. "She's young, that's all. Hanabi-chan isn't used to you and Itachi and Shisui."

"Whatever helps you sleep at night," he sighed before offering her a kunai. "Practice?"

"Okay!"

As soon as the cousins stepped into throwing range of an oak tree every last classmate of theirs scurried out of the way without looking back. It always surprised Hinata when they did that because she knew for a fact her aim wasn't so bad that she'd hit someone _behind_ her.

They were always so skittish.

At the count of three, they each threw a kunai at the target with Hinata's being the closest. Sasuke glanced at the heiress, "best two out of three?"

"You're on," she grinned as the other children slowly inched even further away from the mad girl and her equally mad cousin. It made sense that those two would be the only ones willing to hang out with the village's outcast.

oOo

Naruto, as expected, was the very last person to finish the test, but seeing the encouraging smile on his gentle Hyuuga friend and the not-so-gentle Uchiha who despite his expression didn't leave without waiting… it made him feel warm.

With 'light' footsteps, he tried to sneak up the cousins who were resting between the roots of the oak tree. Hinata looked up at him within six seconds; it was an improvement, he supposed.

"Took you long enough," Sasuke sneered at the blond as he made his way to his friends, but greeted him with an awkward pat on the shoulder.

"You were great!" Hinata smiled brightly with her hands clasped together by her chest. "There's no way any of us can fail, I _know_ it!"

Naruto, unwilling to burst her bubble, only laughed before declaring, "of course I did great, I studied with the best shinobi around! But I don't know how well I'm going to do in the next part..."

"Just pray that you don't get paired with Hinata and even you should be able to get a decent score," the Uchiha muttered.

The heiress looked offended at this, but didn't comment while Naruto stared at her for a translation of Sasuke's gibberish.

" _What?_ " Sasuke raised his hands in defeat. "I know for a fact that the loser who gets paired up with her won't land even a scratch on her."

 _Oh, I see now,_ Naruto nodded to himself. "If I get paired with either of you, I'll beat you somehow," he declared. "But no hard feelings, okay? I like you two."

Hinata only gave him a sympathetic smile while holding in a laugh. Sasuke, on the other hand, did no such thing (she wondered if it was an Uchiha thing to mock their close friends) and shamelessly snickered at that, much to the blond's irritation.

"You'll see-"

"-everyone in first year, to the training area!" a chūnin shouted to everyone in the courtyard, "I repeat, all first years to the training area!"

All three groaned in annoyance before reluctantly standing up and following the wave of students. When they arrived, the students formed into uniform lines with their friends and kept chatting.

Then, Hinata overheard from the nice bubblegum-haired girl speaking nervously, "You-you don't think girls will fight boys, right?"

Her blonde friend shook her head with a resigned smile saying, "only some, the matches are completely random."

Seeing that the Yamanaka's words weren't helping, the heiress interjected kindly, "don't worry, Sakura-san, they've been teaching you to fight for three years, right? Besides, I'm sure Sasuke will be cheering you on."

Said boy glared at the bluenette, "don't put words…" seeing the dejected looks on her and Sakura's face, he corrected with a simple, "you'll be fine."

"Yeah," she said more to herself and then giggled, "I can knock out anyone if I try! Sasuke-kun believes in me!"

From the sidelines, Naruto commented dejectedly, "I believe in you too, Sakura-chan!"

"That's the spirit!" Ino encouraged her. "But what about me, Sasuke-kun?

He raised a brow, "what about you?"

"Oh, aren't you gonna say how you believe in me?"

"N-" with a glance at Hinata's menacing expression he once again corrected himself, "sure."

"See?" the heiress smiled, "I knew you could be nice."

"Barely," Naruto jabbed on Sasuke's other side.

He only frowned at the two before Iruka started talking about the rules which seemed simple enough. Just a friendly spar with no lethal strikes, no weapons, and no Dōjutsu. The winner would be whoever manages to land the first strike or kock over the opponent.

The matches went by fast for some and slowly for others, but by the time that Naruto was called, the other two had already taken a seat on the ground like most of the other kids. The fight was one of the short ones; Naruto had tripped the other boy with a pebble as he pretended to run away. It had taken the chūnin and the spectators a few moments before they could slowly clap and burst out laughing for the rather hilarious defeat of the kid who was a well known bully.

When it was Sasuke's turn, he was paired with the Nara boy who fell over with a mere glancing hit. No one was surprised, but it was rather anticlimactic for her taste. Her mother would kill her if she dared roll over and raise a white flag.

By the time Hinata's name was called out, the last few students who had yet to spar took a look at the tiny girl before sighing in relief. Even if she was a Hyuuga, a girl so small couldn't do much damage, right?

The chūnin coughed and cleared his throat, "sorry, I was saying Hyuuga-san vs. Inuzuka-san."

The boy was considerably taller than the bluenette, but that worked for her, though she was reluctant to hurt the boy who had always been so nice to her. With a sigh she stood before him and bowed before placing most of her weight on her left foot while her right foot was slightly raised. She held two fists by her unactivated white eyes.

Naruto looked at his Uchiha friend who seemed very used to that. "My aunt likes to teach her more than one form of Taijutsu."

"Sometimes I think Hinata-chan's a bit overpowered," the blond said with envy.

"No kidding," Sasuke sighed. "My aunt is really into teaching everything she knows to her."

It started simply enough. Kiba attacked and Hinata dodged with surprising grace until she suddenly sweeped out a leg meant to knock over the boy, but Akamaru (Kiba's ninken) jumped in the way and took the blow.

oOo

"So you won, right, Aneki?"

"Uh," Hinata's face went red. "No."

Hanabi deadpanned once Naruto explained the story. "It's just a dog! Why did you have to drop your guard?"

"I'm sorry, Hanabi-chan."

"And not only did you lose, you just had to bring your barbarian friends with you!" she exclaimed with a glare in the direction of the brothers.

Itachi and Sasuke collectively felt their eyes twitch, but remained silent. To be fair, they did often anger the second child of the Hyuuga Clan by being as eccentric as Uchihas came and because they kept hogging her sister's time in another district.

"I'm sorry, Hanabi-chan," she apologised by passing the girl another spoon full with banana ice-cream. "But they're really not that bad, you should hang out with us more often."

"Hinata didn't even correct her," Sasuke muttered as the younger Hyuuga girl happily chatted away in her elder sister's presence. "And why is she not including Shisui?"

"I believe we owe her this for all the time she wanted with Hinata," Itachi mused as he tried not to laugh at the two year old's antics. "As for him, he already charmed his way into her good graces." _Do all Hyuugas have such advanced grammar at young ages?_

Despite Hanabi's manners, Itachi couldn't help but smile as the girl proudly showed Hinata her most recent painting. Was that how Sasuke looked like to spectators when he was young and eager to share his accomplishments? He wondered if the heiress ever thought of what would be Hanabi's inevitable destiny as the second born.

"Natsu!" Hanabi called as she raised her empty ice-cream cup. "Can I get more?"

"Yes, Hanabi-sama," the woman smiled gently. "Would Hinata-sama like another cup too?"

"No thank you, I'd rather get-oh!"

With a sudden movement from Hanabi who was swatting a fly away, the Hyuuga woman dropped the remains of yellow ice-cream on Hinata's sweater. As if instinctively, Natsu quickly took a step away from her charges and bowed with an apology at her tongue.

Sasuke and Naruto tilted their heads in confusion while his brother and cousin stopped talking. Why would she fear the ever sweet Hinata who'd never hurt a fly if it was avoidable?

"It's alright," the heiress dabbed the sticky substance with a napkin. "I'll get it washed later."

"No, I'll buy you a new one!" and with that, she ran off far from the daughters of the Main House.

Hinata, by look on her face was just as lost. "What was that about?"

"Hitomi activated her seal a few days ago," the brunette explained. "Natsu's been pretty skittish after that, but she knows you'd never do that."

"What seal?" Naruto and Sasuke asked.

"You mustn't go around asking that, you two," Itachi scolded stiffly. The last he wanted was to remind Hinata of the less than noble side of her family, she already suffered enough by its threat.

"It's alright," Hinata shrugged. "The seal is on every Branch Cadet, when they die it makes their Byakugan useless for scavengers."

"Oh, so it's a good thing, right?" Naruto asked.

"Well, yes-no, kind of…"

"Neat! So why doesn't the Main House have those too if they help?"

"Um, we don't use them."

Sasuke then remembered. "So it's what Neji covers on his forehead?"

"Yes."

"Now that you mention him, where _is_ he? I thought he was coming," the blond questioned as he looked around for Neji who could potentially sneak up on them.

"He's sick, his cousins said he needed to rest for a week," Hinata grimaced as she remembered the unpleasant exchange.

Picking up on the girl's uncomfortable twitching, her older cousins decided to take pity on her and change the subject. Shisui wondered if later on she would just marry one of her many Uchiha cousins to spare herself and her children the appalling nature of her clan's class system. Surely the Hyuugas wouldn't dare seal her if she decided to leave?

Speaking of which, he didn't even know what the girl wanted for her future. She was much closer with his younger cousins who weren't out on missions as often.

"So what do you want to do when you become shinobi?" Shisui asked the trio, finding Naruto who perked up at the question with a dreamy gaze quite endearing.

"I'll become Hokage!"

"I'll join the police."

"I'll be just like Aneki!"

"I'll make my clan proud," Hinata declared.

Naruto snorted, "that's not what he meant, what are your _goals?_ "

The bluenette looked around for anyone that could overhear before saying lowly with averted eyes, "I'd like to join the police, too."

"And why's that a secret?"

"It-it isn't… I just, the police are composed mostly of Uchihas only and I'm not…"

"You don't need to worry about a thing," Shisui winked and raised an arm around Itachi. "This guy adores you and by the time you're ready to join us, he's probably going to be the commander and _voila_ , problem solved."


	17. Chapter 16

**Over 3k people read this but I only get two comments for my work?** come on, make little ol' me happy and brighten my day with a nice comment, doesn't have to be long or anything, you can just say hi and I promise I'll stop bugging you guys before the story:) in exchange for what I'm expecting I decided to make this longer, yay!

 **Marihimesama: phew, I'm glad I haven't been wasting my time and not improving! Thank _you_ for another nice comment, it does wonders to my confidence when it comes to posting new chapters. More concerns for this chapter, but believe me, all I want is fluff during these times. I hope you and your family stay healthy and happy too!**

 **LB Cat: truly, our frontliners deserve a round of applause from the world. I hope you enjoy today's longer chapter, I promise you'll see fluff at the end. Thank you for giving me a reason to write!**

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Hinata took a seat beside her bedridden cousin who was no longer deathly pale like he was a week ago. All candles in his room had been snuffed for days; his eyes were still sensitive despite the cloth wrapped around them. She could feel tears threatening to spill since the spat with Neji's cousins. She wanted to look away, to forget that it was her own house that caused the damage, but he didn't deserve that. She wouldn't look away.

"If it co-unts for anything," she started unsteadily, "I'm sorry."

Neji sighed, "well it doesn't, but it's not your fault either."

"I didn't stop it."

"Look, Hinata-sama, I know you feel guilty for this, but you should realize that you can't stop what happens when you're not even present."

She sniffled slightly. "But still, I-I'm so sorry, Nii-san. I should've-"

"-I am _not_ saying this again. It was not your fault," he hugged her. "You weren't _there_."

But still, it hurt to see her genius cousin reduced to an incapacitated child (even if it was only temporary). He was Sasuke's equivalent to Itachi, it just seemed so wrong to see him look resigned.

"The Main House shouldn't be activating your-your seal just because… because they can, it's not fair!" she exclaimed helplessly. "Tell me, who was it?"

He played with one of the strands framing her face as he spoke, "let it rest, I don't want to get you in trouble." Then he snickered, "believe me, I'll think of something."

"No!" Hinata's red eyes flared to life as tears kept falling, "give me a name, I can-I can make sure they never dare do it again, just tell me who!"

Though Neji's eyes were covered, his pause conveyed his shock. He knew that the Uchihas had a reputation for being vengeful to the point that it was concerning, but gentle Hinata was none of that. Maybe it was just Tsubaki's influence?

He shook his head. "It's not just one person, you can't afford to have the clan turn against you."

"It's not just you! Natsu had her seal activated too, you know."

"The elders can still switch you out for Hanabi-sama if they don't like how you think," Neji warned once again. He feared that at the rate Hinata was going, she would be demoted to the Branch House very soon.

"Don't you hate them?" Hinata whispered, resting her head on his shoulder.

She felt his chakra dim down in what she thought was resignation. "I love my sister more."

Because Neji Hyuuga pledged his life to his liege, not the Hyuuga Clan.

oOo

The next day, Hinata requested permission to learn the clan's juinjutsu.

"Permission granted, Hinata-sama," the only female elder said dryly. "I am glad to see you are finally taking your duties seriously. Dismissed."

Hinata bowed and left the room.

When she made her way to her mother's garden, the heiress was sure she could see a victorious smirk on her face before anything about the meeting could be said.

"How did it go, Chibi?"

"My lessons start tomorrow."

The woman hummed and turned back to the garden bed. "Here, take a look at this."

Hinata did not see a thing until she got closer. There it was. "It's an egg."

"I think it fell from its nest, but I haven't seen the mother anywhere," she sulked while prodding the egg for any clues.

The girl blinked slowly before saying, "um, that's nice and all, Hahaue…"

"But?"

"Do-do you think I made a mistake?"

"Explain," she urged without taking her eyes off of the tiny egg.

"Well, Uncle Hizashi was Chichiue's brother, but he was a Branch Cadet, right?"

Tsubaki raised a brow. "Yes."

"So Hanabi-chan will be sealed when I take over, right?"

"That's right, Chibi."

"But, but you said that if I married Itachi I wouldn't get sealed when you thought Hanabi-chan was a boy!"

Tsubaki removed her gloves and gently took her daughter's hands. "I'm afraid that will not work for her. The Uchihas respect the Hyuuga Clan's traditions, they won't intervene for the second born. All you can do is make this clan better for your sister and for Neji when it's your turn."

With blurry eyes, Hinata nodded without a word. It was at times like those that she wished she was under the jurisdiction of the Uchiha Clan. Fugaku-sama was a good person (if not a little stern), for all his brooding he was always present in the life of his sons without prompting from Mikoto or his firstborn, even if that wasn't the case before.

"What if I marry into the Uchiha Clan and let Hanabi-chan take over this one?"

The woman smiled bitterly, but Hinata thought she could see amusement in her eyes. "What if your constipated cousin fancies someone else? I don't doubt that he'd choose you, but are you willing to potentially ruin his (nonexistent) romantic life?"

Hinata shrugged as she rubbed her eyes, "Hanabi-chan is more important. Besides, I'd let him hang around whoever he wants as long as no one notices."

"Well," Tsubaki whistled, "you've got that well planned, but it's still a bad idea. Personal feelings aside, how do you think that Konoha's higher ups would react to such a union?"

The girl tilted her head. "They care?"

"Yes, Chibi," she laughed, recalling her own wedding. "They certainly care, alright."

After a few minutes of silence, the heiress spoke up, "they wouldn't like such far reaching loyalty between our clans."

"Good, I see the old bat's classes are not wasted on you. So what do you think would happen if there is another Hyuuga-Uchiha union?"

"Um, I don't…" looking at her mother's glare, she paused. For some reason it always irked the matriarch to hear her say 'I don't know' but Hinata was more than accustomed to her eccentricities by that point. "We would be pushed away from Konoha's politics, maybe?"

"Until they neutralize what you two together would represent or assure themselves that you _are_ no threat, both clans will probably be isolated for a bit."

"Oh." Hinata remained soundless after that and stared at the egg for the next few minutes. She had never considered the political consequences of her plan, it had all been about Hanabi's well-being, about her happiness and freedom. The heiress didn't consider Itachi's feelings either, of course he would have agreed (he said so himself once) due to his disturbingly selfless nature, but at the end all she felt was guilt for even contemplating using him for her own goals.

 _Maybe I'm becoming a bit more like what the Hyuugas want me to be, she mused darkly. I need to meditate._

"On a different topic, I decided to join you and I think I've found your target. It's a," she paused to find a word that wasn't too much for Hinata, "snappy Hyuuga, I hear she has been taking it out on the Branch Cadets recently."

The bluenette perked up at that. "Who?"

"Hitomi."

Hinata still looked lost.

"You know," Tsubaki prompted, "the one that got rejected the other day? again."

" _Oh!_ yeah, I remember her!" it was the talk of the compound, any Hyuuga worth their salt was aware of at least fifty different rumors that started that very day.

"But how could she even get to Neji-nii-san? He's just a Branch Cadet kid, she wouldn't consider him worth her time."

"Ah, that's where it gets good. Her son was sparring against Neji."

"I can see where this is going," Hinata muttered annoyed.

"Her son lost badly, which is why Hitomi thought it was a great idea to punish him for being better."

Hinata hummed in appreciation as she held a flower to her lips.

Despite her daughter's lack of expression, Tsubaki found the malicious gleam in her eyes hard to ignore. For some reason it always disturbed people when they realized that being soft-spoken did not equal a forgiving nature, though Hinata generally did fill in the stereotype quite nicely. Unfortunately for Hitomi, such kindness probably wouldn't extend to her.

oOo

A week later, Hitomi Hyuuga couldn't help but notice that despite her threats, the Branch Cadet women in charge of laundering kept returning her clothes with a funky smell and always damp. It was no use to say anything, though. Hinata-sama seemed to like them, so it wouldn't end well for anyone who messed with her protected people; that's just the way the hierarchy went.

oOo

Hanabi's training was going well and it pleased Hinata to no end.

For the first few months the firecracker was gleeful to finally have something more in common with her aneki, another excuse to spend more time with her. It was fun to go over exercise routines and katas together and unusually enough, Hinata decided to prioritise helping her improve during training over spending time with their mother. It was more than Hanabi could ask for.

The current heiress couldn't be prouder; it was a pleasant feeling, to see how someone improved at least partially due to _her_ help. She loved teaching, be it taijutsu to Sasuke and Naruto or simple katas for Hanabi. Maybe when she reached jōnin she could even lead a genin cell of her own.

"Good work, I think we can stop now," Hinata announced as she tumbled her way to Ko who as usual held her water and snack.

Hanabi ran to Natsu for her own. "One day I'll be as good as you, Aneki!"

The heiress smiled, "I hope you're better." _And I'm glad to see that Natsu's looking happier, too!_

The tiny girl shrugged and happily munched on her rice ball as she spoke, "can you stay for my other classes too?"

"I'm sorry, Hanabi-chan," the heiress started with an apologetic smile to Natsu who would have to deal with her tantrum. "There's something I have to get in the shopping center."

The firecracker pouted, "let come with!"

"You still have your own classes to attend, Hanabi-sama," Natsu chided gently.

"What's so important anyway?" Hanabi huffed, unamused as she held onto Hinata's training attire.

"Um," she hesitated, wondering if the truth was worth her little sister's reaction. "Just a birthday gift."

She narrowed her eyes (Hinata thought it looked adorable), "for Itachi, I bet."

"Yes..?" the bluenette automatically regretted her answer as Hanabi's eyes went wide and offended.

"Aneki, do you like him more than me?"

"N-no! Of course not!" Hinata spluttered as she waved her hands in denial. "You're my favorite and you know it!"

Ko and Natsu on the sidelines could only laugh quietly at their antics. It really was a blessing to get to know their future leader and her kindness for everyone, it was something that they hoped would stick with her forever. Kami knows the Hyuuga Clan needs it.

"Hm, does that mean you're willing to wait until tomorrow for the shopping trip?"

The heiress laughed, "sure thing, I guess I'll be joining you in your classes today."

Hanabi's delighted face was worth it.

oOo

"Hinata-sama," Soleil (the instructor in the beginning for you forgetful people) pinched the bridge of her nose, "would you please stop trying to set your compound on fire?"

The match was promptly snuffed. "I apologize."

oOo

By the end of that day, the heiress felt happy to the point of grinning in a very un-Hyuuga fashion as she skipped across the compound to reach her room. Nothing could ruin her great afternoon, spent in the company of Hanabi who strived to achieve only the best of results for the praise of her sister. Hinata felt honored to be held in such high regard. To make things better, Tsubaki showed up during the firecracker's later classes and even played tag with them after that.

Once she opened the screen to her room and entered, she froze. One of the windows was cracked open, not enough for someone to crawl in, but the fact that she recalled closing it that morning was already very alarming. Just as she shook a breath to call for Ko (she was sure he always checked on her before going to sleep) a whisper right in her ear caused her to shriek and jump up a foot in the air.

Quickly, Ko (she was right!) slammed open the screen with his Byakugan blazing only to find his charge on the floor with an oversized crow sitting on her raised knee. "Um, I'm sorry for scaring you, it's just one of Itachi's crows."

His brow nearly twitched. "A bird."

"I said I'm sorry," Hinata muttered with a red face. "I forget that they can open my window."

"I can't believe it," Ko slapped a hand to his forehead. "The council expects the windows to protect you, but it appears that even a bird is able to get past their 'great defenses' what a load of bull- erm nevermind."

"It's okay, they're really nice," she stood and raised the crow to his face. "His name is Takeshi."

The caretaker forced his lips into a tight lipped smile. _Somehow the damn bird has the same I-don't-give-a-shit expression like his owner._ "Yes, he's lovely, Hinata-sama."

"Of course I am," the crow said, proudly ruffling his feathers.

Ko couldn't even bring himself to look surprised anymore. " Well I will be going to bed now… goodnight, Hinata-sama."

"Goodnight, Ko!"

"So?" Takeshi squaked. "Feed me, I brought you a message!"

"Right, right..." Hinata grinned and pulled the message on its leg before hurrying over to her desk where a small pouch of grain was hanging open. "Eat all you want."

 _Nii-san will be coming home tomorrow, make sure to hide whatever you got for him_

 _-Sasuke_

She quickly grabbed a pen and scribbled a reply and asked the bird, "do you know of anything we could give him?"

The bird tilted its head, "Itachi will take anything that has sugar in it-oh! Yes, you should buy him a bag of sugar, I'm sure he'll like that."

Hinata laughed, "I'll keep that in mind, thanks for helping us."

"Anything to get away from my mother," he shivered as the note was tied to his leg. "She thinks I broke her favorite rock, but it wasn't me, I promise! I hope she won't be as mad if I find her another one…"

"I'll look for something shiny tomorrow, okay?"

"You're the best!" Takeshi nearly cried as he took flight.

oOo

"Now tell me, Haruno-san, what is chakra?"

Said girl popped up from her seat and recited her knowledge eagerly. Hinata could only sigh in despair as the bubblegum-haired girl spoke, how she envied her way of speaking before the entire class so clearly.

"You okay?" Sasuke prodded her cheek with a pencil from one side while Naruto unglued his eyes from the speaker to glance at Hinata.

"I woke up early today," she grumbled half asleep.

"You always do," Naruto pointed out from her other side.

The girl shrugged, "but I was dreaming and I just _had_ to wake up at the good part!"

"Oh yeah, I know that feels," Sasuke sympathised as he scribbled down what Iruka was saying. "I'll let you see my notes later, if you want."

Her eyes were practically glowing. "Thank you thank you thank you!"

"So what were you dreaming about?" the blond questioned after the ever vigilant chūnin turned around. He never discriminated between girls and boys, Iruka never failed to call out anyone not paying attention.

"Well, I don't remember too well anymore, it was something about a pile of rubbish, but I think someone else was there playing around with all those broken gadgets," she said, still trying to recall the face. It seemed familiar and she was leaning towards believing it was an Uchiha, but he seemed quite entertained and that didn't fit any of her stoic cousins (except Shisui, he was always the weird one amongst Uchihas, but she didn't think it was him).

"Cool, you think it was Nii-san?"

Hinata blinked. "Why would I dream about him?"

Sasuke shrugged, "he likes playing around with that kind of stuff sometimes."

"Really?" her semblance brightened, " then maybe I could-"

"-Hyuuga-san, would you mind telling the class what all the nature transformations are?" Iruka suddenly called out, making said girl's heart jump.

"Um," she could feel her heart going faster, her body freezing and her cheeks- how embarrassing, they felt hot enough to cook an egg! "Those would be fire, water…"

"Can't hear you!" one of the kids in the room shouted with a pesky smirk.

Sasuke, always ready for a fight, retaliated in kind. "Shut up, wannabe."

The boy scowled, "who are you calling a wannabe, Uchiha?"

Naruto, eager to prove his loyalty was right behind his best friend. "You, no one asked for your opinion!"

The heiress slowly sinked in her chair, hoping the ground would swallow her as the chūnin attempted to smother the rising shouting match

Thankfully, nothing happened to her two friends and Iruka forgot to ask her about the nature transformations. Not that Hinata couldn't answer him, those things she learned ages ago under the instruction of Soleil and her mother. She just didn't like being picked out even if she _was_ talking during the lesson.

The few things that she enjoyed about the Academy were Naruto, ninjutsu analysis, and outshining everyone in her class during shuriken practice, though she always denied the last part (but Shisui already caught on and thankfully kept quiet about that).

Today's lesson was boring. All they learned was a bunch of hand seals that she knew for the most part and the moulding of chakra. It would be much better if the chūnin decided to explain more in depth the relationship between chakra and nature transformations, it reminded Hinata of the stories that her mother would tell her when she was younger and now Hanabi, the ones about a legendary Avatar who was able to wield every element during a time that a person could only employ one.

Firebending was her personal favorite because it was the only one that could be generated without the need of an already existing flame; it was the most dependable element in her humble opinion, even if it represented the Fire Nation, who were the bad guys. Eventually Hinata had forgotten all about those stories, but then Itachi showed her and Sasuke an old warehouse full of dusty books and scrolls and there she found written all of her mother's stories. She carefully brought the book back to the compound, it would do her no good if the elders found out she still had a special place for fairytales in her heart.

 _And good thing they don't know about my dinosaur either…._

"Think Ko will pick you up today?"

"Yeah, I was hoping we could find a gift before Ani- I mean, before Itachi figured anything out," she mumbled with averted eyes.

Sasuke nodded, "let me come with you, I can help."

"Let me warn you, Hanabi-chan's coming too," Hinata warned with a knowing smile as she waved goodbye to Naruto who was leaving with Iruka (he promised the blond a bowl of ramen).

The boy groaned, "fine, but you'd better tell her to stop calling me a barbarian."

"I'll try," she sing-songed noncommittally.

"You're the worst, Hinata!"

"Now, now," a voice behind Sasuke hummed. "That is no way to talk to our favorite Hyuuga."

Sasuke sighed with a tired look of resignation. "Nii-san's behind me, isn't he?"

"Welcome back?" Hinata greeted stiffly as she fiddled with her sleeves behind her back. _I was kinda hoping that Itachi would arrive a bit later..._

"I was expecting more of a warmer greeting, you know."

"We're sorry," Sasuke and Hinata chorused before latching themselves on either of the older boy's arms as if nothing happened.

Itachi looked at the pair suspiciously before shaking his head with a small smile. "I don't suppose you two are hiding something?"

Hinata looked positively scandalised. "Could it be that we finally outsmarted the great Itachi Uchiha?"

"Nah, he's just trying to get us to tell him," Sasuke accused with a frown. "Nii-san tricked me enough times for me to learn my lesson."

"I am offended," Itachi muttered drly. "After all these years of being a good brother, that's what I get."

"It's okay," Hinata patted his arm. "We all know you had good intentions."

"Yeah, right," the younger Uchiha scoffed. "You spend your days bullying me!"

"I do not, that's Shisui's job."

"That doesn't make it better!"

"Anyway," the heiress cut in, "I need to pick up Hanabi, we're going to the shopping center."

"Ah, gift for me?"

"Um. no?"

"Perfect, then it's safe for me to accompany you, right? I told Ko that I would be walking with you since I'm picking up Sasuke too."

"Yeah, sounds great!" Hinata wanted to slap herself and her big mouth. _Oh, but maybe this could work, I have an idea!_ "You're coming too, Sasuke."


	18. Chapter 17

**How's everyone doing? I don't know about you guys, but I'm tired of staring at my computer all day for stuff I have to turn in. I'll be honest, I just finished typing up all of this a few minutes ago, so sorry about the crappiness that's to come. Thanks for the favoriting and following! Also, cooommmeee ooonnnnn! Tell me what you think, I'd love to know!**

 **Guest: yay! Thank you thank you thank you! I do my best (most of the time, anyway)**

 **LB Cat: believe me, I know all about the struggles- especially the part when you need to find toilet paper but there isn't any anywhere. Luckily, my family knows a guy who works at a store, he gives us a heads up for when supplies are coming in. Don't worry about reading late, I'm glad that you still bother with this fic :) I hope you feel better!**

* * *

Turns out the brilliant idea was to have him drag around his brother anywhere that wasn't facing the Hyuuga pair until Hinata could finally decide what she wanted to pick out. It wasn't too hard, even if Itachi did check on their cousin often enough to give away what she seeked, both of them enjoyed looking around for trinkets too much to notice (even if the Uchiha heir denied it, he was almost as much of a spendthrift as Hinata).

"We're done!"

"Finally!" Sasuke sighed in relief. "How hard was it to find what you wanted and pay for it?"

Hanabi glared. "Aneki will take as long as she pleases."

"It's okay, Hanabi-chan," the heiress laughed. "I only need to make one more stop."

"A jewelry shop, I imagine," Itachi muttered drly.

The younger Uchiha raised a brow, ignoring Hanabi's scowl. "Since when are you interested in that stuff?"

Hinata shrugged, "Takeshi wanted something shiny for his mother."

"You're actually helping him?"

"He's nice."

Sasuke shook his head, "nuh uh, he hates me and Nii-san- actually, I think he hates everybody, he's always complaining about everything."

"The barbarian is right," Hanabi surprisingly agreed with zeal, ignoring his disbelieving glower. "His brother's bird is annoying- he never lets me touch his feathers!"

"How come?" Hinata looked utterly lost. "Takeshi has always been nice."

"You give him expensive food," Itachi muttered drly. "I think it's his rebellious phase… I hope, anyway."

"It's just that you guys look so serious all the time," the heiress defended as she started walking to the next store. "It's a bit intimidating sometimes."

The Uchiha brothers glanced at each other, assessing their expressions before scoffing in unison, "nah."

Standing on her toes, Hinata looked over the glass case that protected a variety of gemstones. If she remembered correctly, the crow matriarch was fond of the color red, so maybe she'd like a ruby?

"Don't bother, they are my summons and my responsibility," Itachi said as he inched away from the salesgirl's line of sight with no success.

The girl quickly made her way over the group, though her eyes were only on the heir. "Is there anything I can do for you?"

"We were just leaving."

"No we weren't," Hinata propped herself in front of her. "I want something shiny."

The girl shook her head. "Why don't you try the vending machine, little miss? Everything here is a bit… expensive."

"I know," the heiress pouted. "But I still want something shiny for a friend of mine."

Biting back an amused smirk, the salesgirl tapped the glass. "I see, your brother is kind enough to indulge you, but you should think more about him," she gave the heir a dreamy look.

Hinata coughed out, "Itachi's not my brother."

"Then with even more reason, you shouldn't be so wasteful!"

"Can I just pick out something, please?"

"He must be killing himself on every mission just to please you…" she sighed.

"I want that one," the heiress pointed to a ruby necklace.

"You do see the price?"

"Of course," Hinata sniffed with a stiff expression. "The Hyuuga Clan will cover it."

And with that, the rag tag group left with stunned looks. Hinata never lost her temper, much less flaunted her wealth so blatantly.

After moments of walking aimlessly Hanabi spoke up. "That was cool, Aneki."

The heiress felt her face go red. "I shouldn't have done that! Maybe I should go apologise for acting so- so snobby!"

"You were great," Sasuke patted her back. "Don't let anyone talk you down."

"I agree," Itachi smiled slightly.

oOo

She was running late. Sachi would kill her.

Quickly shoving on the first traditional robes she touched, Hinata hurried over to her library where the elder was waiting with a neutral expression. Neutral was better than a frown. It was a good sign. Probably.

"How is your calligraphy, Hinata-sama?"

"I believe it is adequate."

The woman nodded. "I take it you've gone over the books I sent you?"

"Yes, Elder Sachi."

The first step in learning juinjutsu such as the one the Hyuuga Clan employed was to understand how fūinjutsu works and to do that, the council decided to task their youngest member, Sachi with teaching their heiress everything there is to know about the subject. It was only fair, she supposed, being the newest member and all.

"Perfect," she conceded a small smile of approval as she unrolled a scroll and placed a quill on top. "Now watch closely with your Byakugan."

With practiced grace, the elder raised a hand over the scroll and covered it with her chakra, that Hinata noted seemed to shine a bit more brightly rather than the standard dull blue she saw in most of her classmates. After a few seconds, the quill was pushed within the scroll with a small 'pop' and its kanji appeared in the center.

It didn't seem too hard to the heiress, only a bit tiring considering the amount of chakra that was required to seal a mere quill. Her chakra pool was considerably larger than most of her agemates thanks to Tsubaki's efforts when it came to pushing her to master the fire jutsu, but she estimated that she could only seal an object about ten times. It was just a quill, after all; fūinjutsu couldn't be _that_ hard!

Sachi pushed the scroll towards Hinata and placed a kunai on it. Getting the hint, she placed both hands above the scroll and with a deep breath released a burst of chakra over it.

 _Nothing?_

Sighing, the girl stopped channeling energy and looked up at the elder, asking hesitantly, "what am I doing wrong?"

Sachi tapped the scroll and unsealed the quill without a sound. "Watch again, focus on how the chakra is spread."

Pouting, she watched once again how bright blue energy extended across the paper. There was nothing special about it, Hinata concluded with a frown. But there had to be! Elder Sachi was not amongst the portion of the council that was against her, she had no reason to make a fool of her.

"Could you… could you do it again? I-I think I got it."

"Of course, I can do it as many times as you wish."

"Thank you," she whispered, still taking in the sight of the quill and kunai appearing and disappearing before her eyes. It took a total of five times until Hinata realized. "Is it the chakra? I notice that- that it's always evenly spread and it takes more chakra to seal the kunai and less for the quill… right?"

"Good observation, Hinata-sama," Sachi dipped her head. "Why don't you test your theory?"

Gulping, the girl stretched out slightly trembling hands and summoned her chakra over the parchment as evenly as she possibly could praying in her mind, _please please please get sealed, I don't want another 'you're useless' discussion from anyone!_ Luckily, her prayers were answered and the quill disappeared with a 'pop' in a small puff of smoke.

Next came the kunai.

Nothing.

"Try again, Hinata-sama."

Nothing.

Risking a look at Sachi, the heiress found her wearing a neutral expression. It was better than annoyance or disappointment, so she wouldn't ask for more help. The councilwoman could get fed up with such incompetence and leave. Hinata didn't want that; Tsubaki would think she's not worth it.

After some time she knew she was reaching desperation. A bead of sweat ran down her back. Her chakra was no longer even and her breath was going short. What was going on with the kunai?

Unwilling to ask for help, she took a deep breath and summoned her chakra once again as evenly as possible. Much to her relief, the blade disappeared with a 'pop'.

Sachi nodded and pushed a tray towards her student. "You're making good progress, I believe a snack break is in order."

With a brighter semblance, Hinata gulped down a glass of water. "Will I always get tired when I do this?"

"It is a matter of chakra reserves, Hinata-sama. Being a girl, gives you a smaller natural pool, but with enough training, that should be fixed."

The girl hummed and took a bite of her cookie as she looked over the kanji on the scroll.

"Are you ready to continue?"

"Yeah, I'm done."


	19. Chapter 18

**Whew, these are harsh times! How is everybody doing?**

 **Thanks a lot for the feedback and follows and favorites! I'm happy to be able to brighten quarantine times if only a little. I noticed that I have quite a few readers in Latin America, so I was thinking that maybe I should translate this fic to Spanish, to entertain more people, what do guys think? Also, I have good news! Foolish little me has finally found out how to answer comments by email, yay!**

 **Guest: I couldn't resist giving Hinata a backbone. Most of what we have seen about her is based on interactions with Naruto which are mostly useless since she's always lovey dovey when it comes to him. Kishi didn't actually expect us to believe that a child who was born into shinobi nobility as the heir would not at least think of themselves a bit more highly than most, right? That's just not how children grow, but seeing that Neji and her mother are present and supportive here, it's only normal for Hinata to think highly of herself despite her personality. Thanks for reading and reviewing, seeing comments always makes my day!**

* * *

 _"Hurry up! Nii-san will make us do laps if he catches us," Sasuke hissed quietly as he returned knocked over books and scrolls to a shelf._

 _"I'm trying!" Hinata muttered, looking over the room. Nothing seemed to be out place aside from the shelf's misplaced readings, but one could never be too careful when they barged into Itachi's room (especially when the purpose was to borrow/steal his weapons without permission). Though the years that she had known him, Hinata had learned that it was better to apologize than to ask for permission. Itachi had always been a sucker for her tears and free visits to the bakery, anyway._

 _"Oh, Hinata, I think we knocked over his travel pack."_

 _"Got it," she sighed and picked up the heavy bag. Wait. "Is he preparing for a mission?"_

 _Sasuke stiffened. "What, no?"_

 _"But the bag is full of rations and stuff," Hinata motioned wildly. "I think Itachi wants to ditch us!"_

 _In reality that wasn't very likely, but Hinata at some point dreamed of him being sent off on a mission. She knew perfectly well that it was stupid, but could you blame a nine year old kid?_

 _Sasuke paused. "Nah, he probably has that ready all the time. They're real slave drivers in ANBU, you know."_

 _"Really?"_

 _"Mhm, they call him whenever they please and expect him to be ready in seconds."_

 _Hinata tilted her head. "So… what if they call him out today?"_

 _The boy shrugged without turning around as he placed the last book back. "More cake for us."_

 _She blinked without processing his words. Seeing Sasuke's hands clenched into fists and his redding eyes, the heiress figured he wasn't as indifferent as he appeared. It just wouldn't do to have her best friend feel so miserable on a day that is meant to remember a happy occasion. Unlike her, both Sasuke and Itachi could freely celebrate their birthdays without anyone getting mad; there was no way she would allow such a day go to waste because of_ ANBU _. Goodness no!_

 _"I see," she sighed. "Let's go before Itachi and Aunt Mikoto come-"_

 _"We're back!" Mikoto called out from the entrance._

 _"...back."_

 _"Let's go, let's go!" Sasuke hurriedly pulled on Hinata's sleeve as he inched closer to the screen._

 _"You have the shurikens?"_

 _"Yeah, they're here."_

 _Hearing footsteps coming their way, the heiress pulled him back. "He's coming! Let's take the window!"_

oOo

"You got a moment, Shisui?"

"Only for you, Hina-tan," he grinned as he took a seat beside the tiny girl. "How can I help you?"

"Um, I wanted to request a mission but…" she trailed off, looking down at her tea cup. "But I'm not old enough to make a commission."

The older Uchiha blinked. "I can make the commission for you, I guess. What's this about?"

With glowing eyes, Hinata quickly scrambled to find her notebook and shove it in his face. "Do you think this could work?"

Shisui's eyes went downcast for a moment after reading her scribbles. "I can't believe I didn't think of this before…"

"So… can you do it?"

"Oh yeah, don't worry," he recovered with a scheming smirk. "I got this, Hina-tan. I can't wait to see his face when they tell him!"

oOo

"Nii-san looks pretty mad."

"You think?" Hinata tilted her head appraisingly. "I'd say he's sad."

"Hm, now that you mention it… we should ask!"

"Don't be ridiculous, Sasuke!"

"Why not? It's not like Nii-san's going to start chucking kunais at us."

The heiress relented with a roll of her eyes. "He's just going to say something along the lines of 'I know you stole my weapons' or maybe he'll really start throwing kunais."

"No he won't," Sasuke scoffed as he started making his way to his brother's room. "You'll see."

Shrugging, Hinata followed him. "But at least…"

He swung open the screen and entered Itachi's room with no announcement.

"...knock," she finished lamely. Hearing no threats, she entered behind Sasuke and smiled nervously, "um… happy birthday, Itachi?"

Holding in a sigh of annoyance, the heir shook his head. It was a useless endeavor trying to make his little brother knock, that he learned years ago. " Thank you Hinata, Sasuke," he welcomed reluctantly. "What brings you here?"

"We were just-"

"We're worried, Nii-san, how are you feeling?"

Had he been that obvious? No, Hinata probably noticed with her Byakugan and then told his brother (but if that's what happened, why did she look so happy about his misery?). "It's nothing, just a mission."

"But you'll be here for your birthday, right?" Sasuke asked quietly.

Looking apologetic he shrugged on his flak jacket. "No, I'm being called away today."

"Oh."

oOo

Later on, Itachi was informed by the Hokage of the reason for his little cousin's happy behavior. He was not amused (actually he was, but it would look bad if he showed it).

"I'm not up for sale."

"Of course you are," Hinata scoffed. "People pay the Hokage to have you do their bidding all the time, I can hire you to attend your own party."

"That's not…"

"Besides, you're really expensive, you know that? I had to pull rank with a desk Chunin to hire you for this."

oOo

 _"I'm sorry, Hinata-sama, Shisui-san," the Chunin said. "But I'm afraid you can't request such a high ranking shinobi for this type of mission."_

 _Despite having Shisui hound the Chunin all morning, he remained impassive, but that was okay. She still had her trump card and a few others up her sleeve. Up next: the 'kicked puppy face' and if that didn't work..._

 _"I-I see," Hinata drooped her shoulders and let a few tears fall for good measure. "But please, it'd make me and-and Aunt Mikoto really really happy if…"_

 _The Chunin sighed, "as I said before, it's just not possible."_

 _The heiress pulled out her nicest handkerchief and sobbed into it as she clutched Shisui's hand with her free hand. "I'm sorry then…"_

 _"Oh- um, here," the Chunin pulled out a small candy bar. "I know it won't make you feel better, but we can't go around breaking rules, now can we?"_

 _She politely turned the treat away. "Let me put another way, sir. You don't want to anger my father, Hiashi Hyuuga, do you?"_

 _The Chunin paled as Shisui hid a laugh by coughing into his hand (please don't do this, you must cough into your elbow, Shisui)._

oOo

It took all of Itachi's discipline to not smile at the girl. "I suppose I can't mind this once."

With a happy squeal she pulled him along to Mikoto and Fugaku and to what would become one of his most embarrassing episodes with Shisui. Not that Itachi wasn't fond of his older cousin, but he could be a bit much at times (always, actually).

"Oi, brat, aren't you going to say 'hi' or something?" Tsubaki said as a greeting while Hanabi stuck out her tongue at the heir from behind her mother.

"Aw, don't be mean to him on his birthday," Mikoto admonished with crossed arms.

While the sisters bantered, Shisui, his typical uncanny speed zoomed over to Itachi and slugged him. "Happy birthday, baby cousin!"

"Hn."

"Don't you 'hn' me, Itachi!" Shisui frowned in mock offence as he pulled over the heir to the side. "Don't you want to see my gift to you?"

Eying his cousin suspiciously, the heir raised a brow. "Do I want to know what it is this time?"

"Of course you do!"

Still suspicious, Itachi motioned to the small bulk he was holding. "Is it appropriate enough to open in front of Sasuke and Hinata?"

The older boy feigned surprise. "Who says you need to show them?"

"That means I should burn whatever you have there."

"NO!" Shisui hugged the package to his chest. "Do you have any idea how long it took me to track the author of this book just so I give this limited edition to you?"

"It's just a book, then?"

"Why would I lie to you, Itachi?"

The heir didn't need to answer.

"Sheesh, fine! I'll open it for you later, how about that?"

"Fine," he sighed. "Let's get this over with now."

Shisui stiffened. "Later."

"No, I would like to see what you have for me now."

"Uh… I don't think that's a good idea," the older boy took a step back.

"Why?" Itachi feigned confusion. "Should I ask Hinata to see what you have there?"

"Unless you want Aunt Tsubaki and her psycho husband's clan to hunt you down and castrate you, I wouldn't recommend that."

The heir frowned, fighting the heat rising to his face. "What could possibly be worse than last year's gift?"

"Well," he laughed nervously, "since you aren't up hands on learning, I found a solution."

"I don't even want to know," Itachi muttered as he snatched the package from Shisui and made a beeline to the garden where he could bury (setting it on fire would call attention to himself) the thing with a quick jutsu.

Following him, the older Uchiha asked, "aren't you interested at all? Don't you want to know what it is before getting rid of it?"

 _I suppose it couldn't hurt to check what it is… yes, it would be best to check, I should make sure that it's nothing that could bother Sasuke, Hinata, or Hanabi if they somehow find it… especially Hinata who practically lives here._

Yes, he was just being a good brother and a good cousin. He wasn't curious at all.

Once the wrapping was out of the way, Itachi regretted his decision.

"So, what do you think?" Shisui poked the book.

It took a few moments for the heir to process what he was holding.

oOo

Hinata dug her hand in a bag of popcorn and munched on the snack as she observed her usually impassive cousin's face go through a myriad of expressions in the span of seconds. She could watch the show all day and still find it amusing.

"What's wrong, Itachi?"

Trying and failing to stop the heat from rising to his face he hissed, "don't antagonize me, Shisui!"

Yes, it was absolutely priceless.

The older boy shrugged. "I just want what is best for my baby cousin."

"And you'll achieve that with _this?_ " Itachi waved a small orange book in Shisui's face. Sitting on his right, Hinata leaned over him to catch the book's name, but he quickly hid it from her view. He was no fun.

"People are starting to think that you're a hermit," Shisui justified with suicidal nonchalance. "I'm starting to think that you're a hermit!"

"I'm not," the heir groaned. "People must start respecting my privacy, is all."

"Don't worry," Hinata patted Itachi's shoulder and continued solemnly, "we will always love and support you no matter how you live your life."

"You are on thin ice, Hinata."

"What?" the heiress exclaimed in mock offence. "Can't I express my most sincere acceptance for my wayward cousin?"

"You are nearly as bad as Shisui," he muttered.

"No she isn't," Sasuke grinned, swinging an arm over her shoulders. "I can testify."

"At least she got me something nice, unlike Shisui," the heir conceded.

"Sorry," Hinata smiled sheepishly once she reigned in her laughter. "Popcorn for your forgiveness?"

"Sure."

Shisui scoffed, "I'm not sorry at all. Would it kill you to at least look at a girl?"

"Ew, no!" Sasuke glared at his older cousin. "Don't put weird ideas in Nii-san's mind."

"You're too young to understand the pleasures of life," Shisui defended. "But it's alright, I'll teach you when you grow up."

Hinata laughed as her spikey haired friend spluttered, "who wants to learn anything from you?"

All was great, in her opinion; nothing could go wrong at that point. Hinata and her mother had made sure that her life was set on a good path and that way, she would be helping out her Uchiha family as well. Yes, everything was great.

"Hey! I'm glad you haven't gotten to the cake without me!"

"You're late, Dobe."

"Welcome, Naruto-kun!"


	20. Chapter 19

**How's everyone doing? I hope you're safe and healthy and feeling better than me. I've been spiraling down the path of dejected authors this week, but this is what I get for writing whatever I come up with after like two minutes without planning. I'm definitely going to rewrite this whenever I feel up to it. But don't worry, I'll keep updating this till they graduate from the academy, I'm sure that crappy writing is better than nothing at this point.**

 **I'll appreciate any review that comes my way:)**

* * *

At ten, Hinata had made many disturbing discoveries. The worst of them (and the most recent) was the fact that she suspected herself to have a crush. It was pathetic. The second worst discovery was the frightening correlation between her dreams and reality.

It wasn't something that she noticed immediately. Hinata had been vaguely aware of the similarities of her dreams and actual experiences, but she never gave it a second thought. Her dreams consisted of mundane things, like spilled ice-cream or simple birthday gifts. It wasn't the sort of thing that Hinata would categorize as a prediction or anything of importance, but the accuracy never failed to chill her.

Tsubaki dismissed this as nonsense, so Hinata did her best to do the same. Her mother was never wrong, after all.

"By the way, how is your progress, Chibi?"

"Um- well, I still can't activate both bloodlines at once," cue a frown on Tsubaki's face, "but-but I promise I'll work harder!"

The matriarch shook her head. "Don't bow so low, I might mistake you for a Branch Cadet one of these days."

"I'm sorry," the heiress dropped her gaze to the floor. "I'll work on that."

"Good," she nodded her approval. "Why don't you grab your coat?"

"Alright. Should I get Hanabi-chan too?"

"Hm, no. she's too busy with training," the matriarch wrinkled her nose. "I swear that girl is obsessed with improving every damn kata she learns."

Hinata shrugged as she walked off, "whatever suits her, I guess."

"Yes…" Tsubaki frowned to herself. Her second daughter was a true Hyuuga through and through, it was like seeing a mini-Hiashi except she was considerably cuter than the man during his (nonexistent) childhood.

As soon as they reached the Uchiha Matriarch's house, Tsubaki sent her daughter to pay with her cousins and pulled Mikoto to the side with a grim expression.

"I love you, but I'm not about to hear any bad news without alcohol in my system," Mikoto grumbled as she pulled out two cups. "Sake?"

After pausing for a moment, Tsubaki shrugged to herself. To hell with being respectable, "why not."

oOo

"And then Mizuki-sensei made us do more laps after I tried to help Naruto-kun!" Hinata complained as she munched on her cinnamon roll.

"Regardless of your intentions, it's considered cheating if you help him in the middle of an exam, Hinata," Itachi facepalmed.

"What's wrong with helping him," she blushed, staring down at her tea. "The Hokage is covering his tuition, so- so I think I should help him succeed…"

"Yes, but Mizuki does have a point, I notice that your stamina is going down these days," Itachi accused. Not that he was wrong, but it still hurt a Hyuuga's pride. Especially coming from someone as accomplished as him.

"Doesn't mean I have to like it," Hinata muttered without meeting Itachi's gaze. "Besides, I won't need it much because once I reach chūnin, I'll become an instructor at the Academy until my father decides that he's too old to deal with the council's rubbish."

"You wish to become a chunin instructor?"

"The council says I shouldn't go above chunin…" she paused to watch Sasuke and Naruto engage in some sort of silly competition in the yard. Her mother would probably kill her if she ever did anything remotely similar. "And I think I'd like to teach one day."

"I see," he smiled, "but remember that you have a place in the MP if that doesn't work out."

"Thanks," Hinata coughed out as she stifled a fit of giggles after the blond tripped Sasuke as they went around arguing about something that was probably stupid.

The heir gave her a strange look as she dodged his eyes once more. "Say, Hinata?"

"Y- yes?"

"What are you doing?" Itachi leaned forward and pinched her cheeks. "You're supposed to look at the person talking to you."

"I'mvuryshorry (I'm very sorry)!"

"Then look at me."

Hinata could already feel her face overheat as she raised her eyes as slowly as humanly possible. "I shaid I'm shorry (I said I'm sorry)!"

"Are you sick?"

"Um," Hinata blinked, "no?"

"It's alright," Itachi patted her head. "They must be working you to exhaustion during training, right?"

Hinata felt faint with a face so close. "Sure…"

"Hina-"

Moments later, her agemates stumbled back to the porch claiming simultaneously, "I won!"

Itachi sighed anticipating a headache; those two never seemed to give poor Hinata a break. Both heirs knew exactly what was coming.

"Shut up, Dobe, I was first!"

"You guys saw me come first, right?"

The heiress tilted her head with a surprised frown (but it did not have the intended effect due to her blush). "It was a tie."

"You okay, Hinata?"

"Yeah, it's just, um- I'm a bit tired."

"Tell Nii-san if you're sick, okay?"

Hinata nodded, still appalled with her own behavior as Naruto pestered the heir for a name.

He echoed his youngest cousin with hidden dread. Itachi was proud to say that he adored his little brother and enjoyed the company of his blond friend, but unruly children were simply not his strong point. How Hinata managed to be friends with both boys without blowing a fuse was a mystery to him.

"Hmph, since I clearly won, I get to give the news," Sasuke declared as he took a seat between Hinata and his brother.

Naruto scowled. "I wanted to say it!"

"Both of you can say what you want, just take turns," the heir ran a hand through his hair.

"Okay, so your mom said we're going to be on the same team when we graduate!" the blond announced with a grin.

"Aunt said maybe," the younger Uchiha hissed. "And that's because there's always a team with the best girl and boy plus the dead last, which is you."

Hinata gave a small laugh as her heart started returning to its normal pace. "I don't think Naruto-kun will be dead last after I'm done with him."

"Wait, you actually want to make me study in the weekend?"

"Today is a lovely day," she said with a deceitfully pleasant expression.

The jinchūriki froze. Somehow he just knew he was in danger. "Sensei?"

Hinata smiled. "Start running, Uzumaki."

Gulping, he bowed at the small girl. "Yes, Hinata-sensei," and then screamed faster than the Yondaime Hokage on soldier pills.

"Uh, Hinata?"

"You too, Sasuke."

"What- why?"

She shrugged and sipped her tea. "I promised Aunt Mikoto that I'd do this if you two fought again."

"Nii-san?"

"It is not wise to go against Hinata or our mother," Itachi shrugged.

Once Sasuke was out of earshot Hinata smiled guiltily. "I know what you're thinking."

"What am I thinking?"

"I'm a hypocrite that hates cardio but makes her friends do it."

"You underestimate me," he smirked. "I'm thinking that your ploy to make them bond over their hate for your training was quite clever."

Cue the blush.

oOo

"What a crappy situation."

"Tell me about it," Tsubaki groaned. "I've gone over so many old ass scrolls that I'm sure I'm fluent in ancient Uchiha dialect at this point."

"I thought you ditched our grandmother when she tried to teach us that?"

She smiled wryly. "I did."

"Want me to help you look over those scrolls?"

"Hm, yeah sounds great."

Mikoto patted her back sympathetically. "How did you figure all this out?"

"At first I thought Chibi was messing with me but," she took a sip of sake, "I read her journal."

"You let her have a diary?"

"Of course not, it's just a dream log. Chibi hates it when she enjoys a dream and forgets it the next day."

"This is fucked up," Mikoto sighed. "I'll ask Fugaku to let us see our archives."

"Thanks… silly little sister. "

"I'm a grown woman, Tsubaki!"


End file.
